


It's just politics, love

by anxious_alien



Category: The Originals (TV), The Vampire Diaries & Related Fandoms, The Vampire Diaries (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Enemies to Lovers, Fake Dating, Fake/Pretend Relationship, I have NO idea where I'm going with this but I loved the idea of it, Klaroline, Kolvina, Slow Burn, takes some parts of the canon but mostly AU, they're all gonna bicker a whole lot
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-14
Updated: 2019-08-29
Packaged: 2019-11-17 19:29:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 16
Words: 21,995
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18104957
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/anxious_alien/pseuds/anxious_alien
Summary: Three girls-a witch, a werewolf, and a human-living in New Orleans under the vampire Marcel Gerard's reign found the vampire-ruled city uncomfortable at times, but ultimately it was their home. The factions lived in peace, so long as no one stepped out of line. Caroline, Hayley, and Davina were used to this world. Surely, there were worse things out there.Cue the worse things. Now, Marcel has gone missing and a family of ancient vampires has moved in and the Hybrid has declared himself ruler over the factions. What will they do now that safety in the city is uncertain? And why is Klaus Mikaelson suddenly so interested in Caroline Forbes and her best friends?





	1. Chapter 1

For years, the supernatural residents of New Orleans had lived under Marcel Gerard’s reign. He was a vampire, but honestly as far as vampires go, he was tolerable. He was fair. Marcel didn’t let the witches and werewolves get away with much but he left them alone and made sure that the vampires left them alone for the most part as well. It was clear that the vampires had more leeway in the city, and had for years. But that was a fact of life by the time Hayley Marshall, Caroline Forbes, and Davina Claire entered the world.

Humans who lived in New Orleans for generations had some knowledge of the supernatural community that lurked in the shadows. They turned a blind eye when the vampires lured human tourists away. Usually they would come back, compelled and none the wiser, but some would go missing. Or some would turn up again, only undead and powerfully bloodthirsty. Tourists were a nuisance anyway. It was no big deal if a few were culled.

The three girls had actually only met a couple of years ago, but they’d hit it off right away and become friends. A werewolf, a human, and a witch in New Orleans were not likely allies but they made it work. People gave them disapproving looks when they were out and about together. The species don’t mix. Everyone knows that.

Even though the city may have had its fair share of problems, but it was still theirs. It was home.

Hayley was the oldest of the trio, having just turned 20. She had actually just moved back into the Quarter about three years ago, when Marcel finally lifted the ban on wolves. Before that, she’d lived in the Bayou with the rest of the pack, but she was tired of the Crescents’ politics and constant in-fighting. The moment she had the opportunity to break away, she seized it.

Caroline, a 19 year old human, was known mostly in relation to her mother. The sheriff, Elizabeth Forbes, had worked tireless for years now to maintain the peace with Marcel and his lot. It was thanks to her efforts that the vampires had cut back drastically on feeding on the locals. Occasionally, there were mishaps but Marcel was always good about getting to the bottom of it. As a result of her mother’s dedication, Caroline’s family was fairly well-respected in the community. Vampires tended to keep away.

Lastly, Davina, the 17 year old witch, was probably the most likely to pick up and leave town the moment her final year of school ended. She couldn’t stand the coven and all its rules and secrecy. She often lamented that she felt like a sheltered child. They kept children in the coven on such a tight leash, she had barely even spoken to a boy without some sort of adult supervision. She didn’t really get along with the other witches her age anyway. Everyone was totally devoted to the coven. It had been a godsend the day she met Caroline and Hayley at a festival in the city. Every time the city held any kind of large event or parade, it was a rare chance for the factions to set aside their differences and just enjoy what they had in that magical city.

When they heard the whispers of changes coming, they weren’t concerned at first. Maybe Marcel was renegotiating with the human faction, or maybe the werewolves were pushing for more leeway. Every once in a while a conflict would arise but it was usually taken care of swiftly. While Caroline occasionally faced the pressure of following in her mother’s footsteps, Hayley and Davina were content to just let the factions fight it out for themselves. If things got bad enough, they could always just leave. Right?

Things changed though, with the word that Marcel Gerard had disappeared. Some new vampires had rolled into town. _The_ vampires, according to the rumors. At first, the three friends dismissed it. Sure, they’d heard the stories. Everyone had. They’d even heard of some crazy fiasco in a small town called Mystic Falls, where allegedly the hybrid had managed to unlock his werewolf side with some awful sacrifice ritual. But it all sounded so crazy and far away.

Then they heard that he was turning werewolves into creatures like himself. Half wolf, half vampire. More lethal than ever before, and completely loyal to him. _Klaus._ They’d heard his name more and more recently. Even Hayley, far removed from the bayou and their inner politics, couldn’t help getting a little bit nervous.

Currently, they were sitting at a café enjoying the relatively cool morning of mid-March while they sipped coffee and caught each other up on their lives. They tried to make a habit of getting together at least every Saturday. Sometimes that was easier said than done. Hayley and Caroline were both in college, and Hayley waited tables to support her share of a house she rented with four other people and Caroline worked part time at a bridal store where she put her talents for solving everyone else’s problems to good use. Davina was busy with school and filling out college applications in any city that was more than a hundred miles away from New Orleans and her insufferable mother.  

“It’s just the witches getting all stirred up and trying to rile everyone else up too.” Davina said dismissively as she tore off a piece of the muffin she was eating and popped it into her mouth. “You two worry too much.”

She was concerned though, a little bit. She found herself worried about Marcel, but she didn’t voice that opinion out loud.

* * *

  


A few years ago, when Davina had only been about fourteen, her alcoholic, crappy excuse for a father, had caught her in an attempt to sneak away to a party. He had been dragging her down the street screaming and cursing at her, and when she shoved him and tried to get away, he smacked her across the face. This wasn’t altogether a new occurrence. He’d gotten drunk and hit her before.

 She’d shrieked in fear at first when a man jumped down from one of the rooftops. They recognized him immediately, of course. Everyone knew Marcel. Davina would never forget the way her father hastily released her and not only did he back away but he put Davina _between_ himself and Marcel. An act that only served to fuel Marcel’s anger. A grown man, hiding behind a mere child.

“You know my rules.” Marcel had growled angrily at Davina’s father. He took a few steps forward and very gently pushed Davina aside so that he could have a clear path towards the man.

“Now…now listen, Marcel, listen. She’s _my_ kid and I’ll raise her as I see fit. You don’t…you don’t need to be sticking your nose in other people-” Marcel’s hand came across the man’s face with a c _rack_.

“Doesn’t feel too good, does it?” Marcel asked. Davina’s father clutched his face in pain. Davina could only stare in wonder. Then she realized Marcel would definitely kill him. He was merciless.

“Wait!” her small voice rang out. Marcel turned toward her, with a questioning look on his face. “You don’t have to kill him…sir. Just make him go away. Um. Please.” She hoped she sounded polite enough. She was raised to be polite to vampires, at least to their faces.

“He doesn’t deserve it.” Marcel argued. Nevertheless, he turned to Davina’s father. “You’re going to get out of town, and never come back. _Right_ now. Don’t even stop at your house. Do you hear me? If I so much as hear a whisper of your name in this city again I’ll end you. And it’ll be slow.”

Davina’s father nodded anxiously. He stood there for a moment, and then Marcel roared _“GO!”_  and he ran away in terror.

Marcel looked down at Davina, who was shaking like a leaf but staring at him in awe. “Thank you.” She said, remembering her manners.

“You’ve got family, right? Somewhere to go?” he asked her.

Davina shrugged. “My mom. She’s fine, just annoying. She’ll probably cry about him leaving.” She rolled her eyes, eliciting a chuckle from Marcel.

“Go home, alright? Don’t worry about him anymore. I’ve seen him around. He’s not worth the thought.”

Marcel started to walk away.

“Can I come with you?” she asked him suddenly. She said it before she could stop herself. This man who had defeated a monster in her life in less than five minutes and smiled warmly at her was better than what she had at home.

He turned back towards her and gave her an apologetic smile. “Being surrounded by a bunch of murderous vampires is no place for a kid, take my word for it. You’re better off, I promise. Just a few short years ‘til you can leave and never look back. If that’s what you want.”

With that, he had disappeared into the night. She never came face to face with him directly again. But she felt loyal to him all the same.

* * *

  


 She had never shared this with anyone, not even with her two friends sitting at the table with her right now. As far as anyone else knew, her father had taken off and left she and her mother to fend for themselves.

“Well, what are we supposed to do if there’s a bunch of _Original Vampires_ running around the city now?” Hayley said. “What’s that mean for us?”

“Keep your voice down, oh my god.” Caroline hissed, frantically looking around at the humans. No one had seemed to notice. “It doesn’t mean anything for us, okay? Let the council fight it out. If push comes to shove, well…The Bahamas are calling our names. “

  


  


As the weeks went on though, Marcel Gerard was still nowhere to be found and the whispers of changes to the regime were increasing. Caroline’s mother usually had a decent rapport with Marcel and his inner circle but there had been radio silence on their end for a while now.

Then the attacks started happening. The vampires were no longer living a quiet existence in the shadows, it seemed. It started with more tourists going missing, more dead bodies being found in the streets, and then the locals were targeted. Caroline’s mother begged her to stay in the house and if she had to go out, to make sure she was armed with a gun and wooden bullets. “Maybe it’s best you leave the city.” Liz Forbes had said to her one night.

“New Orleans is my home, mom. I’m not letting a bunch of vampires scare me away. I can take care of myself.” Caroline insisted. Her voice faltered though, as she spoke. Truthfully, she wasn’t sure this was her home anymore. But she wasn’t about to leave without her mother, and she knew Liz would stay here die trying to defend the city.

They tried to stay indoors and do everything they were supposed to do, but they were bored. After a couple of weeks playing it safe, the three girls finally decided they couldn’t simply stop living their lives altogether. They were no strangers to the supernatural world, they were all familiar with vampires and how to kill them.

Caroline’s mother begged her to stay in that weekend, and she should have listened. But she met up with her friends downtown, determined to have a good night. The city was alive with people as usual. Music drifted through the air and people danced and drank and laughed without a care in the world. It was easy to believe that maybe all of the concern had been for nothing. Tourists were none the wiser to the dangers of course, the council worked hard to cover everything up. And the locals were numb to threats. If you grew up in New Orleans, you accepted that death could be waiting around the corner. That was just a fact of life. The fact that the threat had increased was just another thing they felt they were forced to accept, or leave.

‘I can’t believe these bad fake IDs actually work anywhere.” Davina laughed after they were waved ahead into a club that evening.

“Honestly, I don’t think anyone even cares. That guy barely glanced at them.” Hayley said with a shrug. “Who wants shots? I’ll buy.”

Caroline and Davina both nodded and Hayley disappeared in the crowd and came back a moment later with three shots of tequila. “Ugh, you know how I get on tequila.” Caroline wrinkled her nose.

“Why do you think I picked it?” Hayley laughed. They clinked the glasses together and downed their drinks. Two or three hours and several more drinks later, they were laughing and stumbling out of the club. All the anxieties about going out had long been forgotten. Caroline shot her mother a very poorly-spelled text to let her know they were still alive and well as they walked down the street towards their favorite all-night diner.

Davina was the first to notice something was wrong. Four guys had started walking several feet behind them. She nudged Hayley and jutted her chin back towards the shadowy figures behind them. Hayley gripped Caroline’s arm and drew her attention to the change as well.

“Did you bring your-”

“ _No_ , there was nowhere to carry it with this dress.” She said guiltily.

“Hello, ladies.” A voice directly behind them said. All three girls yelped in surprise and turned. The men were now right behind them. “Haven’t you heard it’s dangerous to be out on these streets alone at night?”

“Haven’t you heard it’s a bad idea to mess with witches?” Davina replied steadily. She was definitely _drunk_ though, even in this extremely sobering situation, and she was fighting to maintain focus. Hopefully they wouldn’t call her bluff.

“One witch against four vampires? That’s something I’d like to see. But go ahead, give it your best shot.” One of the men sneered. Davina thrust out her hands towards him, trying to conjur the headache inducing spell she remembered worked quite well against vampires. Nothing happened. The men grinned wickedly.

“Having trouble?” One of them asked. She tried again. Still nothing.

“Klaus has been experimenting with lobelia flower extract in some of the water supply.” One of the vampires said, “You’re familiar with it right?”

Davina was stunned. She knew what lobelia flower did to witches’ magic. “Wh-why would he do that?”

“Because times are changing, sweetie. Vampires are taking back the city.”

Davina stumbled backwards.

The men advanced on them, and the three of them braced to try and fight as best they could. However, the first never quite made it to them. He stopped short suddenly, and let out of a gasp, before dropping to the ground. There was a gaping hole in his back where his heart would have been. His companions looked down at him warily, and then two of their heads were suddenly violently torn from the their bodies.

The last looked around wildly. “What…what the hell?” he stammered. He turned and started to run but came fast to face with a blonde man with a rather bored expression on his face.

“Nothing personal.” He said simply, and shoved a hand in the man’s chest, wrenching his heart out. The man dropped to the ground, body going gray already. The blonde man dropped the heart to the ground with a sickening thud.

A dark haired boy, looking no more than 19 or 20 stepped up beside him, and surveyed the mess. “Well, that was fun.”

The blonde man ignored him though, and stepped over the dead bodies, making a beeline for Caroline. “Miss Forbes, I presume?”

She nodded wordlessly.

“I believe my little brother and I have just saved the lives of you and your friends.”

“Wait, w _hat?_ I thought we were taking them for ourselves! Niklaus, I’m _famished._ Do you know what one hundred years in a bloody coffin does to a person’s appetite?” The dark haired one complained. Niklaus rolled his eyes.

“Patience, Kol, we’ll find you something else to eat.” He turned his attention back to Caroline, “As I was saying, Miss _Forbes._ I’ve saved your life. Be a dear and let your mother know Klaus Mikaelson is to thank for your continued survival tonight, and that she needs to stop sticking her nose where it doesn’t belong. And, I’ll be collecting repayment for this little favor in the future.”

“Klaus Mikaelson?” Caroline repeated in disbelief.

Klaus grinned charmingly, “The one and only, love. You and your friends take care. Run along home now.”

With that, he and his brother were gone. The three girls quickly forgot about their late-night drunk cravings and hurried home to process what had just transpired.


	2. Chapter 2

It had all been a setup of course. He’d compelled those four idiots to go after Caroline and her friends. He’d slipped the lobelia flower into the witch’s drinks himself. He’d followed closely afterwards to make sure no _real_ harm came to them.

“Kol, stop playing with your food. I can’t hear myself think.” Klaus sighed. A plan was forming in his mind. A couple of days had passed. Plenty of time for Caroline to understand just who he was and how dangerous it would be to cross him.

Kol snapped the screaming woman’s neck and sank his teeth back in. He was on his third or fourth body that day, which was excessive, but he’d been asleep for a long time. It was really just the mess that was most irritating. Dead girls all over the halls.

“So what’s so important about the blonde girl?” Kol asked finally tossing the body aside. Their other siblings were around, but Klaus owed Kol a little bit of bonding time since shoving a dagger in him nearly a century ago.

“Her mother is the sheriff. Practically every interaction Marcellus had with the human faction went through her. Not even the mayor has her influence. The humans trust Liz Forbes. So they inevitably trust her daughter.” Klaus explained.

“And you aim to, what, exactly?” Elijah said as he entered the room. He looked at Kol and sighed at the mess he’d created. Kol grinned impishly.

“I’m going to invite her for dinner, brother. That's all.”

“Oh, so _now_ we get to-”

“No, Kol. She’s going to _have dinner with us_. If you can manage some self-control for an evening.” Klaus explained impatiently. Perhaps it had been a bad idea to wake Kol. He could be unpredictable. But Klaus had genuinely hoped to reunite them all as the strong family they once were. Even Finn, though since he’d been awakened he spent most of his time sulking and shooting them all death glares.

“What about her friends? Are they off limits? The witch looked delicious.”

Yes, he should have definitely left Kol daggered.

“I’d planned on extending an invitation to them as well. She’ll need some motivation to…cooperate with my plans.” He said with a slightly devilish smile. Elijah gave him a withering look.

“Must you stir up trouble already?” Elijah asked. “It’s bad enough what you’ve done with Marcellus. Plus we’ve already got the one Salvatore locked away, a doppelganger you’ve trapped in her room—mind you, she keeps breaking things in there—and now you want to imprison a few more people?”

“The witch and the werewolf have real family to speak of. No one will question their absence. No one that will miss them anyway. Miss Forbes will be a bit more tricky. She’s well-known in the city. So yes, I will need to _recruit_ her friends to ensure that she behaves. I’ll have Stefan deliver an invitation within the hour.”

* * *

 

Caroline’s mother had already left for work. She’d elected to skip class that day, it was Friday after all, and slept late into the morning. A knock sounded at the door. It was nearly noon, but who could be calling on her already?

The knock became more insistent.

“Alright. Alright! I’m coming, just hang on.” She said blearily, stumbling down the hall. She threw the door open to see a (kind of cute?) guy waiting for her. She instantly wished she didn’t have bedhead and had not sounded quite so snappy.

“Oh. Hi there.” She said with a nervous laugh.

With a completely blank face, the man looked at her and handed her a box with an envelope resting on top. It had been sealed with wax, an M pressed into the seal.

“Your presence is required at the Mikaelson home this evening at 7pm. I’ll be back to pick you up.” He turned to leave.

“Wait. _Required_?”

“Yes.” A quick nod. “He wants you to wear that.”

“Maybe I don’t want to go.”

“Read the letter. I don’t think you have much choice.” He said cryptically. He started to turn, and then stopped mid-turn and added, “Oh, and he’d like very much if you didn’t mention this to the sheriff. Not sure what he’s got planned if you do.”

He left without another word, and Caroline stared down the envelope and package, completely dumbfounded. She tore open the letter. It said pretty much what the delivery man had just said, but she noticed that Klaus had included _“your friends will be in attendance, and I’m sure will be anxious to see you.”_

This was a threat.

She swallowed hard. She couldn’t just ignore it. Her friends were in danger, and Klaus had already proven once before that even a witch was no match for him when he wanted something done.

She opened the box, revealing a long form-fitting red evening gown with silver-embroidered intricate designs around the waist. When she tried it on, the back trailed the floor slightly. It definitely seemed like…a lot. Especially for a simple dinner.

The fact that he had gotten her measurements exactly right was a something she decided not to ponder on too much. He was creepy enough already.

She tried calling Hayley, and then Davina, with no success. She felt like her throat might close up from panic. What could they be going through right now? And why was this all connected to her? She’d save them. She’d make Klaus release them, no matter what he wanted in return.

That evening, the man who’d delivered the dress arrived again. Her mother was still out, apparently working late. There had been a murder reported only half an hour ago and Caroline couldn’t help but think this was not coincidental.

“Who are you?” she asked the stranger, as he helped her into the car.

“Stefan.”

“You work for Klaus?”

“Yep.”

“ _Why_?” she asked. She couldn’t imagine why anyone would side with Klaus Mikaelson. She had heard so many horrible things about him. He had always been just a scary story people told their children at night, the former king of the city who’d disappeared in 1920. Some thought he’d been dead.

“It’s a long story. One that’s none of your business.” Stefan said coldly. He got into the drivers side and didn’t say another word to her until they reached the large building that she knew to be Marcel Gerard’s personal compound. Not anymore, obviously.

“Follow me.”

It was clear she would not be getting information from this one. She followed his fast pace to a large dining hall, where she gasped to see her friends seated at the table.

“Caroline!” the both said at once. They were both beautifully dressed as well. She wondered what kind of fight Hayley must have put up when told to wear that shimmery silver dress. It flattered her, but she knew her friend well.  Definitely not her style.

“Oh, my god, I was so worried about you two! What happened?”

“The lobelia flower still hadn’t warn off, and they’ve made me take more since getting here. They caught us both today, and we’ve been stuck here with these vampire prison  guards.” She gestured to Stefan and another vampire. “And then they made us get all dressed up and come to dinner. I don’t…I don’t know what they’re planning.”

“Caroline Forbes. Thank you for joining us!” Klaus said behind her. She turned and scowled at him.

“Let my friends go. They have nothing to do with any of this.”

“Your friends shall remain unharmed so long as you cooperate, love. But they will remain here, subdued, until you and I can come to a civil understanding.” He assured her with a smile. The threat in his eyes was crystal clear. “Please, have a seat.”

The younger one, she remembered he’d call him Kol, came in to join them. He plopped down in a chair across from Davina and leaned back, looking amused at the display.

“Kol, I don’t remember inviting you.” Klaus snapped.

“Oh but I do so want to see how this plays out. And if you’re going to be forcing Elijah and I to play a part in your nonsense, I want to get to know the lovely ladies I’m supposed to be keeping an eye on.”

“And I just want to make sure I don’t have another body to dispose of.” Another man said as he walked into the room.

“Great. Elijah too.” Klaus muttered under his breath. “I want no interference from either of you.” He said sternly to his brothers as Elijah took a seat. He clapped his hands together, and signaled for his lackeys to go and bring them their first course. “Stefan. Josh. Be quick, would you?”

He smiled at Caroline, looking much like a wild animal sizing up its prey. “My dear, I think it’s time you and I had a chat about the new change in regime. And your role in it.”


	3. Chapter 3

Klaus leaned back in his chair, waiting for her to respond now that he had laid everything out. Caroline stumbled for words for second. He was out of his mind.

“I am not pretending to be your girlfriend.” She spat in disgust.

“Fiancé, actually. We’ll announce our engagement in couple of weeks.”

“You’re insane.” Caroline laughed, “What do you think my mother is going to say? She’s going to know this is all a sham.”

“And it’ll be your responsibility to convince her otherwise, or your friends will face mortal peril.” Klaus replied, “And if I were you, I’d worry for your mother’s safety as well.”

Caroline’s eyes darted to Hayley and Davina, and Davina gave a nearly imperceptive shake of her head. _Don’t do it._ Her eyes said.

And yeah, it was a bold move to encourage her friend not to worry for her own safety, but it was a silly prospect. Caroline couldn’t deny his request in reality, not with her friends in danger. No, she would have to device some other plan to get out of this and keep everyone safe.

For one thing, she needed to find out if Marcel was still alive. He would never allow this if he had any say in it. And surely there were vampires still loyal to him. If she could get him on her side, and enough support, they could take the city back from Klaus.

She just needed to play a role right now.

“Anyway, I’ll be sending you home tonight, and I’ll be keeping miss Claire and miss Marshall here as collateral, of sorts. We'll fetch you tomorrow.”

She gaped at him. “You can’t do that.”

“Oh, but I can.” He grinned wickedly. She shuddered. “Stefan, escort our guest home.”

* * *

 

Kol was charged with leading Davina to the room she’d be staying in.

“You know, you don’t seem totally on board with your brother’s maniacal plan.” Davina said, as she followed him grudgingly down the hall. She looked around as she went, trying to memorize her surroundings and the route to her room. The compound was a labyrinth of rooms.

“Nothing good comes from going up against him.” Kol assured her, “Plus, no offense, I don’t care all that much, darling. If I intervened every time Klaus made some egotistical grasp at power, I’d never get anything done.”

“So what was my mother told about my absence?” Davina asked curiously.

“Oh, we told her you had elected to stay here voluntarily and use your gifts to suit the new regime. She was…” he paused awkwardly.

“Thrilled to get rid of me?” It would make the most sense. Her mother certainly didn’t care about vampire affairs. And she certainly didn’t care what Davina did anymore. She’d already made her disappointment with her daughter crystal clear.

“Well, I didn’t want to put it like _that_.” He mumbled. They finally stopped at a door. “This is your room.” He yawned. “Don’t try to run off. You’ll be guarded. You’ll be given water infused with more lobelia in the morning.”

“But your brother is supposedly the all-powerful hybrid. Surely he’s not scared of one little witch.” Davina said innocently. She swore she saw him look slightly amused for a second. But instead of answering that question, he opened the door to her bed room.

“Goodnight, Miss Claire. I’ll be back to babysit you tomorrow unless I can find some way out of it.”

* * *

 

“I swear if you lay a hand on me, I’ll find a way to separate it from your body. Original vampire or not.” Hayley growled at Elijah as they exited the dining room.

“I’m not anticipating a need for violence, so long as you can walk to your room peacefully.” He said politely.

“Drop the act.”

“What act?”

“The whole ‘noble and mannerly’ act.” she said, shooting him a glare. “You’re not that noble if you’re helping your brother kidnap people and overthrow a city. Marcel might not have been perfect, but he had rules.”

“Would it interest you to know that Marcel struck against my brother first?” Elijah asked. Hayley was a little surprised by that. But not much. Maybe Marcel had struck first, but he must have had reasons. And judging from what she’d seen of Klaus Mikaelson so far, he had plenty of reasons.

“Klaus probably deserved it.”

“My brother deserves a lot of things. He did not deserve Marcel’s betrayal.” Elijah said quietly, dangerously.

Betrayal? “So they were friends?”

“Father and son, more like. Though estranged for quite some time. Niklaus had come here to try and make peace, and Marcel got nervous.”

“So what happened?”

“That’s a story for another time. We’ve arrived at your room. You’re far from Miss Claire, to pretend any sort of…plotting.” He gestured to a door.

“So, what, you’re just going along with Klaus’s crazy plan?”

“Oh, I volunteered to help.” He noted Hayley’s glare and added, “Trust me, you’d rather it be me than one of the other vampires he has in his inner circle. They might not be quite as respectful.” The meaning of his words was quite clear. Still, he was far from innocent. She felt sure that if he really wanted to stop this, he could. Maybe he did secretly want power over the city to belong to his family.

* * *

 

Caroline wanted to tell her mother what was going on, and have her find some miracle solution to all of this. But…she couldn’t risk endangering her. The next day, she got up bright and early and saw her mom off to work.

“This is a nice surprise.” The sheriff said with a smile. She took a sip from the coffee that Caroline had already had waiting for her. “Usually I can’t count on you to be awake before noon on your days off.”

_I just thought we should spend time together in case I manage to get myself and everyone else killed today._ “Just in a good mood this morning, I guess.” Caroline lied cheerfully. There was no doubt her mother still thought it was strange, but she didn’t question it. After she left, Caroline paced the house, reorganized their bookshelf, scrapbooked some happier times from the summer, detailed the finishing the designs on the human faction’s float for the next parade, and practiced some self-defense. This was all before 11am.

A sharp knock on the door sent a jolt through her. Finally. She only wanted to see her friends again and make sure they were ago. She threw the door open and Stefan was there yet again. “Do you get tired of being his little minion?” she asked.

She felt a little less afraid today. Obviously Klaus needed her. She imagined the  punishment would be severe for anyone who harmed her. He glared at her in annoyance but he didn’t take the bait.

“Klaus wanted me to come and get you. You’re to check in with your friends and then accompany him to some art exhibit.”

“Are you kidding? I’m not going anywhere in public with him. People will see  us together!”

“That’s the _point._ ” Stefan said impatiently. “This has to look real.”

It would get back to her mother in no time. God, she’d have a fit when she found out Caroline was spending time with _the_  Original hybrid. The thought of everyone in New Orleans thinking the two of them were an item made her stomach turn.

“Ugh. Let’s just go before I throw up.” She said to Stefan, and walked past him to the car. Klaus Mikaelson was in for an earful when she got to the compound.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No Kol/Davina interaction in this chapter, but I'll make up for that in the next chapter for sure

She could practically feel eyes on her while Klaus escorted her into the museum. Even in a city often crammed with tourists, word managed to get around fairly quickly among the locals. Someone was always watching, always prying, always waiting to spread word of whatever gossip there was to be shared.

Well, normally that person was Caroline herself. She did have eyes everywhere.

But today, she knew that those eyes would be working against her, and her mother would get wind of who she was spending her time with before the day was over. In fact, she expected her phone to start ringing within the hour.

“You’ve been here before, I presume?” he asked her. “Considering you grew up here.”

“Yeah, a school trip here and there.” She answered, in all the cold politeness she could muster.

“You know, I helped have it built, back in the day. Before my family had to…leave.”

She pretended not to be surprised. But she was—she hadn’t expected an ancient, evil vampire to have any interest in the arts.

“I’ve actually got a couple of landscapes hanging here somewhere.” He continued, and she went on pretending not to care.

“Who’d you have to compel to get them displayed?” she responded coolly. His grip on her waist tightened ever so slightly and he leaned over to whisper in her ear.

“You would do well to be nicer to me.” He said, his breath hot against her skin, “You know that boy you had been seeing prior to our arrangement…Tyler, was it? I’d certainly hate for something to happen to him.”

Caroline shuddered. “You wouldn’t.”

“Oh. I would. Gladly.” He murmured back. “So, _play along._ ”

 She wished she could drive a stake through him right now. Not that it would kill him. But at least it might hurt a bit.

She bit back all of the mean things she wanted to say to him and glared straight ahead as they walked. She tried to focus on admiring the paintings that hung on the walls.

“That one’s nice.” She said, straining to find something neutral to say to keep him satisfied. It _was_ a nice painting, at least. A ship caught in a storm, being tossed around by crashing waves.

“Ah, yes. My family’s arrival in New Orleans, back when it had barely gotten off the ground.” Klaus commented. “You can see the light of shore, there, in the background.”

“You painted this one?”

He nodded, with a slight look of smug satisfaction. She narrowed her eyes. “Well, it’s not bad, I guess. But it’s not my favorite.”

He chuckled, “You really are hellbent on making this entire thing difficult, aren’t you, love?”

A couple of people she recognized from the city council shot glances at the two of them as they passed. There were plenty of locals here. It was part of some grand opening event on a new exhibit that she’d already forgotten the details on. Clearly, she had too much going on to remember everything going on in the city.

She thought of her friends, and her mother, and reminded herself that their safety was imperative, even though she wanted to die from embarrassment at being seen here with a crazy, power-hungry vampire. She tried her best to keep a smile on her face. Maybe they’d think she’d been compelled. Doubtful though, surely if anyone knew to stay on vervain, it was the sheriff’s own daughter.

“You never said I had to like you for real.”

“Of course not. But your life would be so much easier if you at least let yourself enjoy this little charade.” He whispered into her ear, sending shivers down her spine, “You will be queen of this city, you know?”

“You are _not_ the king of New Orleans.” She hissed, and turned to glare at him.

“I was once. I will be again.” He grinned.

* * *

 

Caroline had come by briefly before being whisked away to the museum by Klaus. At least she was okay, and he intended for her to stay that way. After she left, Hayley and Davina were told they were permitted to roam the compound freely, but that they would be under constant surveillance. Davina had elected to return to her room though, refusing to have any of Klaus’s vampire minions leering at her.

Hayley was bored. She walked through the place, occasionally stopped at certain rooms by her vampire prison warden, trying to find something of interest if she was going to be cooped up here. The full moon was also not far away, and she wondered what their plans were for when she turned.

She thought of how she’d heard that Klaus was making hybrids, and hoped that this would not be her fate. She had heard that all of the hybrids had been sired to him, completely blindly loyal no matter what they felt prior to turning. If she became like that, she’d be useless to her friends. But the doppelganger was here, in one of these many rooms, being kept locked away so that her blood would be readily available to Klaus.

There were also stairs leading down to what she could only assume was a dungeon. Perhaps containing Marcel.

When she was sure she was nearly hopelessly lost, and too stubborn to ask her silent shadow for directions, she stumbled across a room with a grand piano situated in the center of it. There were other pieces of furniture around, and some artwork on the walls, though everything was covered in sheets. This room clearly hadn’t seen much use.

She sat down on the bench and poked at a couple of the keys. She’d never actually played. But she thought maybe she could irritate the residents of the house who had vampiric hearing.

“Do you play?” a voice said from the door way. Her head jerked up to see Elijah Mikaelson watching her. She could never get used to how they just appeared from thin air.

“No. It wasn’t really a priority in the bayou. How’d you know I was here?”

“My room is actually down the hall. And I…may have been listening for you and Miss Claire. Only to ensure you weren’t being bothered.” He replied. He walked in, staring at the piano with a strange expression. “I can’t believe he’s still got this here.” He murmured, mostly to himself.

“Who? Marcel?”

“I taught him to play, on this same piano, years ago when he was just a boy.” Elijah said, and smiled fondly at the memory. He gestured to the empty space beside Hayley. “May I?”

She scooted over, making sure there was some distance between them when he sat down. He tested a few notes. “They’ve kept it in good condition. How peculiar.” He said softly, and then he began to play as though it were second nature. She didn’t recognize the song, of course, but he played beautifully all the same. He was perfectly groomed, wearing a tailored suit that probably cost more than what she made in a month…or two. Hayley suddenly felt a little bit shabby in comparison. If he noticed, though, there was nothing in his eyes that betrayed it. He looked at her as though they were equals.

“That was…actually really good.” She commented once he was finished.

“I could teach you, if you’re interested.” He offered. She wanted to hate him as much as she hated his brother, but he was so clearly nothing like Klaus. She kept having to remind herself that he was still helping Klaus keep them here. He was still helping Klaus overthrow the city, no matter how charming he appeared to be.

“Isn’t it supposed to be easier to learn when you’re kid?” she said, shaking her head. “I could never pick it up now.”

“Nonsense. I was nearly five hundred years old before I learned.” Elijah retorted with a small smile. Hayley smiled back in spite of herself.

Well, maybe it would serve some purpose to play nice with him until she could come up with some genius plan.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was without internet for nearly a week and I swear, I thought I was going to die. Finally updating again!

“You know, at some point you’re going to have to come out of your room, darling.” Davina heard Kol’s muffled voice through the door. She picked up a hairbrush from her nightstand and threw it his direction.

“It's a bit rude to make the house suffer because you’re in a bad mood.”

“Oh, go away.”

“You left your poor friend Hayley to fend for herself today.” Kol said with a dramatic sigh.

“What? Is she okay? Did something happen?” Davina climbed out of her bed in a hurry and opened the door.

“She’s fine, actually.” His amused voice replied, “I just wanted to see what it would take to get you to come out of there.”

Davina rolled her eyes at him, and went to close the door again, but he put his hand against it. After a couple of pointless tries to close it despite his firm hold on the door, she gave in and crossed her arms. “What is your problem?”

“I actually need your blood for something, if you don’t mind.”

“I _do_ mind.”

He frowned, looking mildly disappointed for a minute before a grin spread across his face. Davina gulped. “Well, that’s hardly an issue. Seeing as you’re my brother’s prisoner and everything. I don’t suppose you have much choice, Davina Claire.”

He grabbed her arm and then before she could fully process the situation, they were standing in the cemetery outside an mausoleum that looked like it hadn’t had proper upkeep in a while. Kol walked over and smacked the door. “This,” he explained, “Is my personal playground. Or, it was. I just can’t bloody get into it at the moment. That’s where you come in, darling.”

“And why should I help you?”

“Because there’s still a fifty percent chance my brother would forgive me if you met an untimely death. Would you like for me to find out? I'm not unfamiliar with a dagger in my chest."

“How did you even get in here? You have to be invited-”

“While you may be immune to my dashing good looks and charm, there are more than a few witches in New Orleans who are not.” He said with a confident smirk. “Your ancestor was one of them, by the way. Mary-Alice.”

Davina made a disgusted face and shook her head. “Well, Claire witches have never had great taste in men.” She walked up to the doorway of the tomb. “So I hope you’re not needing magic for this, since mine is currently out of commission.”

“You know, you seem less bothered by that than most witches would be.”

Davina shrugged uneasily, “I was already fully prepared to leave New Orleans and lose my magic. We have to be close to the ancestors to practice. I’ve been counting down the days.”

He looked at her strangely, “You have a gift. And you just want to throw it away?” he scoffed, and then went on, “Never mind, it’s not relevant right now anyway. All I need is your blood, darling. On that door.”

Davina held out her wrist and winced as he broke the skin with his fangs. The moment he withdrew, she jerked her hand away. She let her arm hang for a moment, letting the blood drip down onto her palm, and then pressed it against the door. Kol pushed it open easily. “ _Finally_.” He sighed. Then he bit into his palm and offered it to her. She didn’t really want to accept his help but she also wasn’t keen on bleeding out at the moment.

After she drank some of his blood and healed up, Davina followed Kol into the tomb.

“What the hell is all this?” she asked, marveling at the artifacts and books that lined the walls. A table in the center held a set of chemistry equipment.

“The place where I had a good number of useful things made. Dark objects.”  He rummaged around, and cursed. “Not all of them are here though.”

He pulled out a small dagger from one of the boxes and laid it on the table. “This, though,” he said thoughtfully, “this is part of a project I might be interested in re-starting.”

“Well, good luck with your science experiments.”  Davina said impatiently, “Can we go now?”

He gave her a small grin, “Davina Claire, how would you like to make deal of sorts?”

\--

The evening was far from over. There was a gala later that evening to benefit the community art center or something, and of course, Klaus expected Caroline to attend on his arm. By now, she had missed calls from her mother, as well as about twenty other people. She finally managed to convince Klaus that she really did need to call her mother back unless he really wanted the entire police force to descend upon them.

They went out into an empty hallway, and she took a few steps away from him to make the call. Her mother picked up about halfway through the first ring, and sounded frantic. “Caroline? I’ve had people calling me all day saying you’ve been with _Klaus Mikaelson_. What is going on? Are you okay? What did he do?”

She glanced over at Klaus, and it was clear he was listening in. Caroline scowled at him, and then took a breath. “Yeah. I, um, well.” She paused, trying to think of anything even close to believable. “You’re always saying I need to take more of an interest in our relations with the supernatural factions of New Orleans, and you know…you’re right. So I reached out to Klaus and asked him to attend the event tonight with me. Just to get to know him and see if we can work towards some semblance of peace.”

“That is _not_  what I meant when I said-”

“I know! I know. That’s why I didn’t tell you. But mom, “ she said, gaining a little bit of confidence, and straightening her posture, hoping to sound mature and poised, “I’ m an adult. I’ve lived here my whole life. I know how to deal with a vampire. Even a really old, really grouchy one.” she shot Klaus a look, “Please just respect this, okay? I think I can make some real progress.”

“Caroline, this is insane.”

“Oh, mom, you’re breaking up.” She said, talking over her loudly, “What was that? I can’t hear you. Talk to you soon, love you, bye!”

She hung up the phone and smiled a little triumphantly in spite of herself. At least part of what she’d said, she really had meant. Her mother needed to understand that Caroline was not a helpless child. And besides, maybe she could manage to make some good come of this situation.

“Nicely done.” Klaus remarked. She turned to him, and strutted over. She felt herself regaining some confidence now.

“We need to talk about what I get in return for going along with this.”

“The continued survival of your loved ones isn’t enough?” he asked, raising his brow. “I didn’t know you were in a position to make demands.”

“Don’t you think it’d be easier for me to fake liking you if you actually offered me something besides threats?”

“Well, what did you have in mind, love?”

“I want Marcel’s rules to remain in effect. No harming kids. No feeding on the locals.”

“And do we still have the countless guidelines with the tourists as well?” he smirked, “My future queen.”

“Please, like you have any intention of giving me any sort of power as your wife.” He let her back into the main room just as a song picked up and he quickly wrapped a hand around her waist and took her other hand in his. Caroline fought back an irritated groan as he began to lead her through the dance.

“You think you’re the first Forbes I’ve met? You family has always led the human faction and kept them safe. And for good reason. You’re smart. You know how this game works. I have no doubt that it would benefit me to have a descendant of that great family at my side. I don’t do anything spontaneously.”

“You want me to have a voice in your plan for world domination or whatever??”

“Shocking news, but yes. People e like you. They trust you. You babysat their children. You single-handedly planned countless school events and fundraisers.  Some of those fundraisers weren’t even for groups or teams you were a part of, you just did it.”

“It’s called being a decent person.”

“Oh, we'll have plenty of time to delve into why you are the way you are. But for now, your perfectionism comes in handy. It's a shame though, that these people will neve care about the person behind it, working tirelessly.”

“Good.” Caroline said firmly. “My goals is to make people happy, and do something good for the community. People have fun, enjoy themselves, the snacks don’t run out. It’s simple.”

He spun her around, and brought her body closer to his. “You could be doing so much more.” He stared into her eyes with such intensity that she nearly forgot the crowded room. He had a way of capturing people in his gaze, vervain or not. She shook her head, clearing her thoughts, and the song ended.

“Let’s just get through this.” She mumbled, stepping back from him.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've been on vacation for a week! I just got back and am now slowly getting through updating all my fics. Sorry for the wait!

It had been a couple of days since the three girls had the opportunity to spend some time alone. Not completely alone, of course, as one of the Klaus’s men was always watching. Today Stefan stood by on a balcony while they talked in the courtyard. It added an undercurrent of tension to what should have just another day for them. He could hear every word.

Davina knew this, so she hadn’t had the chance to tell them that Kol had secretly been intercepting the lobelia flower that was supposed to make it into her drink every morning and evening. It was slowly starting to fade from her system, and she’d tried a couple of small spells but hesitated to try anymore. She did not one hundred percent trust the youngest Mikaelson brother, but at the moment he seemed to share her motives. He wanted to neutralize his brother once and for all, and to do so, he would need Davina’s help. Any other witch in the quarter was too scared to try and assist him.

Davina didn’t care. She’d dealt with monsters of her own. What was one more?

She desperately wanted to tell them though, that as soon as she and Kol managed to transform the dagger into one that would actually affect the hybrid, their troubles would be over.

It wasn’t safe to do so, not with so many highly sensitive ears lurking about.

Caroline had been there nearly every day. She’d been attending classes, but she’d basically quit her job at the bridal store. Being fake-courted by Klaus Mikaelson apparently had its perks in the monetary department.

“So yeah, mom essentially blew up when I told her.” Caroline said, flipping her hair behind her shoulder.  “And you know? I kind of didn’t hate that part? I work my butt off all day every day, trying to be the perfect everything for everyone. So having everyone lose their minds over my bad boy vampire boyfriend is kind of weirdly satisfying?”

“Okay, I think you’re forgetting the part that he kidnapped us and forced you to date him.”

Caroline rolled her eyes, “I mean, obviously. But if we have to play along I might as well find some enjoyment in it, right? Besides, Hayley, aren’t you learning to play the piano recently?”

Hayley glared daggers at her and blushed furiously. “Elijah’s not…”

“I’m not judging! I’m just saying, I’m not the only one who’s clearly making the best of things right now.”

A door opened on the far side of the yard and one the hybrids marched across holding the arm of a dark-haired girl. She made an attempt to yank her arm away. “I can walk on my own.” She snapped.

“You just lost nearly a liter of blood.” The hybrid snorted.

They continued on across and back in doors to another part of the house. Davina noticed Stefan’s eyes leave the three girls and his attention focused solely on this girl being dragged across the courtyard. Once she was gone, his eye were back on the three of them. Davina flipped him the bird but he remained unresponsive.

“What was that about?” Caroline asked.

“That’s the doppelganger.” Hayley explained. “Klaus uses her blood to make his hybrids.”

Caroline frowned. “It’s not right. She’s being held captive.”

“So are we!” Davina reminded her. Caroline could be irritating this way sometimes. If there was someone to worry over, she would be the one to do it.

“Yeah, but only until after this marriage thing.” Caroline said with a frown. She had a thoughtful look on her face. “I think I’m going to go find my darling fiancé-to-be and have a word with him.”

“You’re going to piss him off.” Hayley hissed, and her eyes darted to Stefan. “Caroline, some things just aren’t your fight.”

* * *

Another couple of weeks passed, and Caroline waited anxiously in front of her door. She paced back and forth, feeling very much like some silly little girl before her first date. She was wearing the elegant blue dress Klaus had sent, along with a delicate diamond bracelet he’d bought just a few days ago. There was no need to have her old job, truth be told. Klaus spared no expense.

It was…kind of nice. No boy she’d dated before went to such lengths. Of course it was all to keep up appearances, but at least he wanted to give the illusion that he was putting for the effort.

And tonight was a big night. Tonight was _the_ night. She wrung her freshly manicured hands. Being proposed to had always gone a bit differently in her mind. For one, it would have been a surprise. And two, it would have been the love of her life or something. But no, this was planned, and this was Klaus Mikaelson. And it would be a very public proposal at the end of an evening after yet another black tie charity event that he himself had arranged. He was slowly gaining favor among the humans, even though the council remained skeptical. His vampires had stayed clear of the human residents of the city, at Caroline’s request and he’d poured a ton of money into community projects.

Her mother was nowhere to be found. Their relationship was strained lately, with these new developments. Caroline would have given anything to tell her the truth. But then she would want to intervene and try to put a stop to it, and she would get killed in the process.

The doorbell rang, and Caroline opened the front door. She fully expected it to be yet another random escort—because Klaus himself could never be bothered to pick up his lover himself—but she was surprised to see the original hybrid himself standing there. He offered her a bouquet of roses.

“Miss Forbes.” He said with a dashing smile, “You look as lovely as a queen should.”

She resisted the urge to roll her eyes. “I guess you have decent taste in dresses.”

He offered her his arm, and led her down the front steps to the limousine that waited at the curb. Up and down the street, people watched. She blushed deeply. Could he ever be discreet just for once?

When they were comfortable inside the car and on their way to their destination, Caroline cleared her throat.

“I want to make a deal.”

“Have you not made enough deals?” he asked, amused. “It seems to be all you do. What else could you have to bargain with?”

“Wouldn’t our big engagement be much more believable with a passionate kiss at the end?” Caroline asked. Klaus was many terrible things but so far he had stopped short at asking her to kiss him or display any affection further than holding hands or a brief hug.

He raised his brow. “Are you that good of an actress?” he smirked, “Or maybe, you wouldn’t need to do any acting.”

“Ugh. Shut up.” She scowled. “Yes. I’m an amazing actress. And I’d be willing to put on quite a show in exchange for one small favor.”

“And whatever could that be?”

“That girl. The doppelganger. Release her when you release my friends.”

His playful expression darkened instantly. “That doppelganger is far too valuable to simply release.”

“Do you really need to hold her hostage to access her blood whenever you want?” Caroline asked innocently. “I though you were the great, terrifying Niklaus Mikaelson. Let her live a normal life, and come and get her blood whenever you feel like it.”

“I do still have both Salvatore brothers in my possession, as collateral.” He said thoughtfully, and she could see the wheels in his head turning.

“Besides Stefan?”

“You think Stefan is with me willingly?” he laughed, “I have his brother chained up in the dungeon as we speak. It’s the only thing that keeps him in line.”

Caroline filed that piece of information away for later.

“That’s all beside the point. What do you say? One kiss in exchange for one doppelganger?” she asked, “I want a husband who doesn’t keep innocent girls locked up, if that’s not too much to ask.”

Let no one say that Caroline Forbes could not play a role. He mulled it over and shrugged. “Alright, miss Forbes, you have yourself a deal.” Then he grinned devilishly. “Just make sure that once we kiss, you’re able to stop.”

She looked away from his gaze immediately. One of these days she’d find a way to rid herself of this ancient, egotistical pain in the ass vampire.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it's taken forever! I'm slowly working through updating all my works-in-progress now. Just had a rough month in terms of mental health but I'm feeling better now.

She was taken by surprise to find her friends were present at the event. Caroline rushed to join them, deciding that it probably wouldn’t seem too suspicious for her to break away from Klaus momentarily just to greet her friends. Even a couple as _deeply committed_ as she and Klaus pretended to be had to part once in a while.

“They were preparing a room for you today. I heard some of the vampires discussing it.” Davina said.

Caroline processed this information. A room? When did he expect her to move in? Sure, that was going to have to be the plan eventually but…she had hoped for later.

“It’s thoughtful that he isn’t expecting you to sleep in _his_ room.” Hayley shrugged. “Can you imagine?”

“Ew.” Caroline wrinkled her nose. “I’d rather throw myself in the ocean.”

“Could you and your friends keep your voices down.” A voice growled in her ear. Caroline jumped and turned to find Klaus barely an inch away.

“Don’t _do_ that!” she admonished. A couple of heads turned, and she composed herself. “You know I hate when you sneak up on me, _darling.”_

Klaus grinned and grasped her hand in his. “Come on, you’re going to love the toast I’m about to make to our whirlwind romance.”

“Oh boy.” Caroline muttered sarcastically.

He led her through the crowd to the center of the room. He snatched up a couple of glasses of champagne from a passing waiter and handed one to Caroline. Delicately, he tapped a knife against his own glass. A hush fell over the room as all eyes turned to him.

“When I came to this city, all I cared about was reclaiming what was once mine. I know we have had our struggles in the past weeks, but I have every intention of ensuring that New Orleans retains its greatness.” He smiled, and some of the humans reluctantly smiled back. “I had no idea that when I returned to this beautiful city, that I would meet the love of my life.”

He turned to Caroline, and she fought really hard to avoid rolling her eyes. Instead, she gazed back at him in what she hoped looked like pure adoration.

“Every king needs a queen. And there is no queen quite as intelligent, beautiful, resourceful, or driven. There is no one quite like Caroline Forbes.” And then several gasps when through the crowd as he got down on one knee before her and produced a ring with quite possible the biggest diamond she’d ever seen in person. Even Caroline herself felt a little jittery suddenly.

“Miss Forbes. Would you do me the great honor of becoming my wife? And together we will lead New Orleans into a new era.”

She had no idea what all that meant. But she knew she was supposed to say yes. Caroline clapped her hands over her mouth in faux surprise, and even managed to produce a couple of tears, which she hastily dabbed away. “Oh, Klaus.” She gushed, digging down deep to produce a real-enough sounding emotion. “Nothing would make me happier.”

He _actually_ breathed a sigh of relief, got back on his feet. “I’ve been waiting to hear that for ages, love.” He said, and slipped the ring on her finger. It felt intimate, and weird, and would have been romantic had it been anyone else. Suddenly, she realized how very close he was and remembered her end o f their agreement. Without warning she grabbed the back of his neck and pulled him towards her. Their mouths collided and she felt his hands wrap around her waist and pull her body against his. This was not part of the agreement at all, she thought irritably. Still, she played along and threw herself into the kiss with enthusiasm. Finally, they both came up for air, and she had a quick moment to realize that he was actually a _very_ good kisser.

He seemed to know exactly what she was thinking and smirked. She couldn’t address it in front of all of these people.

Applause sounded around the room. Caroline looked over the faces in the ground and then froze when she saw her mother in the back of the room, looking perplexed. Oh no.

\--

“Hey!”

“Ow.” Hayley said, and swore under her breath. She rubbed her ribs where Davina had just unceremoniously elbowed her. “What?”

“Mrs. Forbes is here. Look.” Davina pointed. Hayley looked in the direction Davina had pointed and saw Caroline’s mom on the outer edge of the crowd. She had apparently been watching the spectacle with great disdain. Hayley and Davina had similar reactions. They especially didn’t enjoy how ‘into it’ Caroline seemed to have gotten. But perhaps she was just that good of an actress. It was hard to say.

“She looks pissed.” Hayley whispered.

“Well yeah.” Davina hissed. “Caroline’s fraternizing with the enemy out in public and getting _engaged_ and crap.”

“You know she doesn’t really have a choice.” Hayley reminded her.

“Miss Claire, a dance, perhaps?” Kol appeared seemingly from nowhere, and held out a hand towards Davina. Right on time for the band to start up a new song.

“Is it really necessary?”

“Extremely.” He grinned devilishly. Davina hesitated but then, to Hayley’s surprise, took his hand and let him lead her out onto the floor. That was…certainly unexpected. Especially since Davina had been giving her such a hard time about trusting Elijah.

 _Elijah._ God, it was stupid, but there was just something about him. She felt drawn to him.

She had no clue if he felt the same. She couldn’t imagine that he did. He remained forever the perfect gentleman around her, always keeping a respectful distance.

Davina and Caroline would murder her if they knew. She stole a glance at him. He was just across the room now, talking to some other vampire. He must have known she was staring though because he caught her eye and offered a small smile and a polite nod.

Hayley glanced away quickly. Aside from the fact that his brother was basically the devil, Hayley suddenly felt deeply out of place every time he looked at her. Men like that don’t go for women like her. Too much damage.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey ummmm, turns out I'm still alive. Sorry guys, I really am. It's been a weird few months for me. And then I just didn't want to write at all for a while because I figured it was too late to restart anything but I'm back and trying again. So here's a new chapter, finally.

“Mom, oh my god, _yes_ , I’m wearing vervain. I never take it off. See?” Caroline waved her bracelet around dramatically. After the event, she’d returned home, though she was unsure how long she would stay there. Klaus had made it clear she would be moving to the compound any day now. They were just finishing up preparations.  

“So what’s gotten into you then? I raised you better than this, Caroline. I raised you-”

“Never to trust vampires.” Caroline finished for her. She glanced down at the diamond that still felt foreign and heavy on her hand. None of this felt real until she came home and faced her mother. Now it was very, very real. And she wanted so badly to tell her the truth but what would that achieve? An all-out faction war?

And the humans would lose.

At least her arrangement with Klaus had some small promise of peace. If she really was going to be _queen of the city_ as he very much loved to say, she would have some power. She could change things.

But right now, she needed to be an actress. She had been in about 16 school plays—four of them musicals—so this would be a cakewalk.

“I know it’s hard to understand, mom.” She said, sighing deeply. “But from the moment we met…there’s just been this connection. This pull. And I think maybe, maybe I can make a good impact on him. He’s got a good heart. Deep down.”

She wasn’t totally sure Klaus Mikaelson did actually have a heart. That was still a mystery. But strangely, part of what she’d said hadn’t been a total life. She did sort of feel drawn to him, and she couldn’t possibly explain that. There was something about him. Caroline ignored her mother’s skeptical expression.

* * *

 

The night had gone exceptionally well. Klaus smiled to himself as he gazed out over New Orleans from the balcony of his beloved home. Everything was going according to plan. He’d been right to choose Miss Forbes. And she was definitely keeping this entire game…interesting.

And she was gorgeous. Not to mention quick-witted and well-spoken. And those lips, pressed against his…

He shook his head. This was all just business. Politics, or whatever. She would become the face of his takeover, and the other factions would fall in line. Sure, she was lovely, but that was just a perk. At the end of the day, she was a means to an end.

Very nice to look at though.

“So I take it your evil plans are all going well?” A voice said from the open doorway. He swore under his breath and turned around Finn, the eldest of them, lurked just inside the doorframe.

“My dear older brother. To what do I owe the surprise? Shouldn’t you be sulking somewhere, cursing your miserable existence?”

“Mostly I just curse _your_ existence.”

Klaus gritted his teeth. It had been Elijah and Rebekah’s idea to wake up Finn and Kol. The two of them made no efforts to hide their disdain for their bastard brother. What good was this attempt at uniting the family if they didn’t even want to make an effort?

“What is it that you want?” Klaus said impatiently.

“Sage is in town. She’ll be staying here.” Finn said, as though he had any authority to decide such things. This was a bold move even for him. Elijah and Finn may be older, but they all knew Klaus had the most power. Elijah could match him just with sheer skill and wit, but Finn had spent about 900 years in a coffin. He was rusty.

“Why should I open my home to your precious lover? I should have killed her years ago. I’d be doing her a kindness.”

“For all that I and our siblings put up with, including letting you gallivant around the city fancying yourself king, we deserve _some_ amount of happiness.” Finn responded through gritted teeth. Klaus rolled his eyes.

So much drama with this family.

“Whatever. Run away together for all I care. God knows she’s only coming here to try and turn you against me even further.” Even as he said the words, he didn’t entirely mean it. Maybe he did despise Finn, but they were brothers. He would put Finn back in a box before he let him leave. Before he let any of them leave him. No one would ever leave him again when he secured this city.

Finn turned on his heel and exited the room, and Klaus was barely able to return to pondering what to do with his human fiancé before another sibling darkened his door.

“For god’s sake, what do I have to do to get some peace and quiet?” he snapped. 

“When do think Stefan will finally give up his loyalties to that annoying doppelganger bitch?” Rebekah sighed. “I’ve tried damn near everything, and he barely notices I’m alive.

Klaus wanted to dismiss her foolish concerns. But he worried, for different reasons. He’d refrained from compelling Stefan Salvatore, in the hopes that his old friend would see how much better life could be with himself and, yes, Rebekah. But he remained and detached. It was boring, to say the least. They used to have so much fun together. He’d even given Stefan and Rebekah his blessing once upon a time. He could consider it again if the man would only loosen up a bit and get over his stupid loyalties.

Maybe he’d have to compel the poor lovesick boy after all. For his own good.

* * *

 

“Concentrate.”

Davina opened her eyes just enough to glare at the original vampire sitting across from her. “Saying that over and over again isn’t going to make me find this stupid diamond any _faster_.”

If Kol had a retort, he bit his tongue. He seemed to understand that he needed her cooperation far more than he needed her respect.

They had taken another field trip to Kol’s personal evil lair in the hopes of using a locator spell to find a diamond with supposedly enough power to make the dagger needed to neutralize Klaus. Davina was not quite sure what the plan was if they did manage such a feat. She was still wary of Kol. Would she simply be replacing one enemy with another? Kol seemed to have a soft spot for witches, but she knew enough about him to know he was just as dangerous as his brother. Maybe even more so. He lacked the restraint his older siblings seemed to have. He’d once massacred an entire church full of people to dispose of one little old lady.

He was the best chance she had at the moment.

A map of the town was laid out between them while Davina concentrated and repeated the incantation, and Kol watched eagerly for the black sand to lead them to the treasure. But so far…nothing.

“He must have it cloaked.” Kol decided.

“I just need more time.” Davina protested.

“No.” Kol sighed. “I know Claire witches and their power. You should have found it by now if it weren’t heavily cloaked against locator spells.”

Davina realized he’d basically complimented her and wasn’t quite sure what to make of it. Kol pulled a bottle of bourbon off the shelf and poured her a glass, and then one for himself. He held out his own glass and clinked it against hers. “For our efforts.” He sighed, and downed it in one gulp.

Davina drank her own glass down quickly as well. She was frustrated, and she could tell he was even more frustrated, and the idea of being out here in a cemetery at night with a very irritated original vampire was suddenly a bit daunting.

“We should head back. I should get you back to the compound before you turn into a pumpkin, or however the fairy-tale goes.”

Davina shook her head. “This is a sad excuse for a royal ball, and no, the carriage—that we don’t have—turns into a pumpkin.” _And you're definitely no prince charming._

She walked out of the strange tomb into the night air, and realized Kol was still inside, packing away some of the instruments he’d been examining. Maybe…

In a rush, she tried a spell to seal the door and lock him in. Surely, a vampire could be a little more trustworthy if he simply stayed put. And no one would ever suspect she’d know where he’d gone.

Nothing happened.

Kol heard the incantation and came to stand at the doorway for a moment before casually stepping over the barrier. “Oh, darling.” He sighed. She didn’t think she’d ever seen anyone look amused and disappointed at the same time. “I’d hoped it wouldn’t be necessary, but I slipped lobelia extract into your bourbon, unfortunately. You won’t be needing your powers until I’ve gathered more information.”

She scowled at him, but couldn’t come up with a reply. Of course he didn’t trust her. She didn’t trust him either. They literally had one common goal and then even if they accomplished that goal, who knew what would happen next. He could try to kill her right then for all she knew. Or she could attempt to do the same.

“Let’s just go home. Or to the compound. Or whatever.” She muttered, turning and walking away from him. There wasn’t much point in keeping him in her sights if she couldn’t fight him off anyways.


	9. Chapter 9

Elijah hesitantly opened the door of the doppelganger’s living quarters, and had already put a hand up in defense of whatever object she might throw at him. There wasn’t much left that she _hadn’t_  broken, but she’d proven to be pretty resourceful when she tore the leg off of one of the chairs in the room and attempted to fashion a stake out of it.

“Miss Gilbert?” he said. The room was dark, the curtains drawn even in the middle of the day.

She was probably tired. She received very little time to recover between mandatory blood “donations” for Klaus to make more hybrids. Elijah could see her underneath a pile of blankets on the bed. The room had actually been quite lovely, before she’d torn in to pieces in an effort to use anything and everything as a weapon. It was mostly bare now, save for the bed and armoire.

“Go away.” She muttered.

“I have news.” He tried. He didn’t like this arrangement any more than she did. But he had been willing to put up with his brother’s more troubling behavior so far in exchange for having their family whole again. Hopefully now, things might get even easier.

“You’ve dumped your brother in the middle of the ocean?” she said, with a sarcastic hopefulness in her voice. He was briefly reminded of Katerina and smiled in spite of himself.

“Not quite. Though it’s definitely an idea for the future.” Klaus had sent Elijah to deliver the news because of all of them, she seemed to tolerate Elijah the most. And he didn’t trust Stefan alone with her. He probably never would.

“A bit more…freedom…has been negotiated on your behalf by Miss Caroline Forbes?”

“Am I supposed to know who that is?”

“She is my brother’s…” he paused, stifling a groan, “fiancé.”

Elena sat up in bed, brushing the hair away from her face. He was always a little startled to see the face of Katerina Petrova staring back at him. And…Tatia.

“So she has awful taste in men. But she…wants to free _me?”_

“She’s human. She’s sympathetic to your plight. You are free to roam the compound,” Elijah started, locking eyes with her as his compulsion set to work, “You may not converse with the Salvatore brothers or communicate with them in any manner.”

“Oh, so now I’m a free-range blood bag?”

He spared her a tight-lipped smile. “In a manner of speaking.” It was best not to indulge this, or he’d be here all day. And there was still a werewolf he had to attend to. Yet another woman who wasn’t exactly thrilled to be there.

She appeared to still have questions, but he turned to leave. The vampires in the compound had been given strict orders to stay clear of her. Stefan had been given _extremely_ strict orders to stay clear of her or else his brother down in the cells would suffer greatly. He felt he was under no obligation to stay and chaperone his brother’s most prized possession.

Right now, he only wanted to see the werewolf. For what reason, he didn’t quite know. He was actually still trying to think of a decent excuse when he rounded a corner and ran right into her.

“Oh!” he said in surprise. “I didn’t expect you to be…out.”

“Is that still allowed?” Hayley questioned.

“Y-yes. Of course. You’re not, not a prisoner or-”

“I just can’t leave.”

“Right.” Elijah said, awkwardly. There was quite a lot of that going on right now. Klaus was well on his way to forming a harem at this rate.

“Very temporary of course.” Elijah added quickly. “Miss Forbes will be joining us within a few days, and once the marriage is over and done with, you and Davina will be free to go.”

Hayley looked at him incredulously. “You honestly believe that?”

Elijah was taken aback. “What do you mean?”

“Every interaction I’ve had with your brother…leaves me with the impression that this is all far from over. He wants Caroline to cooperate until the wedding, sure. But what about afterwards? What about when she’s _queen_ of New Orleans and decides she wants to put that power to good use? You can’t really believe Klaus will give up his only leverage.”

He didn’t want to believe her words, but he already knew she spoke the truth.  This was a girl who had lived through supernatural turf wars for the better part of her life. She was no fool.

Elijah recovered from his momentary stunned silence. He was ashamed. He had no desire to confirm her suspicions. “I give you my word, Hayley, I will see to it that you and Davina are out of harm’s way.” Even if that meant going against his brother. Niklaus had made a promise that the girls would be free as soon as the marriage was official. Elijah would make certain he kept that promise, by any means necessary.

Hayley smiled at him. He liked her smile, though this was a sad one. “I hope you’re right, Elijah. I hope you’re one of the good ones.”

* * *

 

“No. No, these colors are all wrong.” Caroline said. She was being difficult, and she knew it. And she liked it. The hybrid holding the paint samples scowled at her but didn’t say anything. Even without an official marriage, Caroline suddenly had power here. More power than any human had had in this compound for a very long time.

“Maybe a nice blush pink? Or coral?” She suggested. She knew full well he’d brought her both of those colors an hour ago and she’d turned them down. She watched as a vein in his forehead bulged.

“Fine.” He said through gritted teeth.

She surveyed the empty room once she was alone, trying to decide where to place a vanity. She tried to ignore the fact that it was mere footsteps away from Klaus’s bedroom. She spared his closed door a glance. She imagined bloodsoaked walls and furniture made from human bone.

Or maybe really ugly shag carpeting. He was like, a billion years old. She wondered what time period he’d enjoyed the most.

She heard footsteps approach, and turned to face some unknown assailant but was instead met by a dark-haired girl looking just as surprised as she was. Caroline recognized her as the doppelganger she’d seen being escorted through the grounds a few days earlier.

“I guess he made good on his promise after all.” Caroline said by way of greeting her. The other girl regarded her with some degree of suspicion.

“So you’re the human Klaus is marrying?”

“I tend to go by Caroline.”

“Why?”

“Why do I go by Caroline or why am I marrying Klaus?” Caroline asked, unable to resist.

The doppelganger didn’t seem to think it was nearly as funny.

Caroline sighed. “I’m doing what’s best for my city, and the humans, right now.”

“So you’re not like…hopelessly in love with him?” the girl made a disgusted face. Caroline had to laugh.

“No. God no.”

The seemed to put her at ease. “I’m Elena. The doppelganger. I guess Klaus got bored with terrorizing my little town and decided to set his sights on something bigger.”

From what Caroline had learned, Klaus had terrorized Mystic Falls solely to get his hands on this one girl. Klaus was relatively closed off about it when she tried to pry, but it had been a particularly bloody affair.

And this particular girl would never be allowed to leave Klaus Mikaelson’s protection. A knife to her throat was all it would take to end the production of hybrids.

In a moment of ruthlessness Caroline didn’t know she possessed, she realized ending this girl would be the perfect revenge if Klaus were to ever cross her.  

She shuddered. She shouldn’t think that way. She was still human, after all. She was nothing like her husband-to-be.

Elena excused herself to explore the compound, and possibly the limits of her compulsion, and Caroline went right back to planning out her new bedroom and the welcome distraction it provided from her worries about how she would control her fiancé.


	10. Chapter 10

“Are you going to stay mad at me forever?” Kol asked with a fake pout. Davina glared back hatefully.

“You tricked me into drinking the lobelia.”

“You nearly sealed me into a tomb!”

“It was just a precaution!”

They went on like that for some time, and luckily Davina’s room had been spelled to protect against eavesdroppers because the conversation got heated very quickly.

“You know what? I don’t even need you. I can find any other witch to do this.” Kol said coldly.

“Then why haven’t you yet?”

And it was clear that she already knew the answer. No other witch would touch this kind of task. Davina was only getting involved because her friend was involved. Otherwise, the whole of New Orleans could burn for all she cared.

And Marcel was in danger. He was still alive. He had to be. If she got rid of Klaus she could get Marcel back, and finally feel like she had repaid him for his kindness that night when she was a child.

“Can I really trust you?” he asked, and she realized that in their heated argument, they’d closed a lot of distance. Suddenly he was just a few inches away.

“I want Klaus out of here.” She said solemnly. “I’ll do whatever I have to do. Even if we have to kill-”

“No. We won’t be killing him.” Kol reminded her, “The dagger is only meant to sentence him to the same torment he put the rest of us in over the centuries. I’ll not see him killed.”

That was the only thing holding her back from completely trusting him. She knew he would choose Klaus’s life over hers, when all was said and done. He only wanted the hybrid out of the picture for the time being.

She wished she could convince him otherwise. But they didn’t have that kind of time.

“We’ll try again in a few days, after the lobelia is out of your system again. In the meantime, I’ve got some leads to follow.” They still needed the diamond if they had any hope of making a dagger that could put down Klaus. The situation seemed hopeless. It could be anywhere, and it was clearly magically hidden. Davina’s locator spells could only do so much. A powerful witch had to have hidden the diamond.

“And what am I supposed to do?”

He smirked playfully. “Keep looking gorgeous?”

She scowled back at him in response.

“Yes. Just like that.” He grinned. “We’ll have our freedom soon, Miss Davina Claire.”

* * *

 

For the first time, they were dining alone. There weren’t even any hybrid or vampire minions lurking about. They’d brought Klaus and Caroline their meal and then left, closing the door.

She couldn’t decide if she should be worried or not.

“I met Elena today.”

“Who?”

She resisted the urge to snap at him. Of course he wouldn’t know the girl’s name. “The doppelganger. You let her out of her room.”

“I’m a man of my word.”

“How long do you intend to keep her here?” How many hybrids could he possibly need? Klaus looked confused by the question.

“Oh. She’ll be staying. Seeing as she’s the only way I can create more hybrids for the foreseeable future.”

Caroline dropped her fork. “No. No way. That’s _insane._  You don’t need that many hybrids. What do you need an army for?”

“It’s not just about having an army.” Klaus said grudgingly. “The hybrids…”

He stopped himself. Caroline wasn’t going to give up that easily. “Tell me.”

“They’re sired to me. They’re completely loyal.” The look on his face was hard to describe. Like nothing had ever been more important.

“They won’t betray you.” Caroline said, understandingly. “But you have a family-”

“A family with a terrible track record.”

“They still love you! They’re still here, aren’t they?” Caroline argued back. “The hybrids that are sired to you? That’s not family. That’s not even real loyalty. They don’t have a choice in the matter.”

“What’s the difference?” he snapped. His eyes flashed dangerously, and Caroline wondered if maybe this was really the best conversation topic.

But damn it. She was going to be his wife, and she was going to make some changes around here.

“You get one more year.”

Klaus glared at her. “I can’t imagine you have anything else to bargain with, my darling fiancé.”

Caroline bit her lip, searching her mind for something of value to a vampire. “The vervain.”

“What?”

“We cut the vervain supply in the city by 20%.”

“50%.” He countered.

She had to laugh. “Absolutely not. 30%. We’ll work together to figure out which establishments no longer receive it.”

Klaus studied her for a moment, and for once it didn’t feel like he was looking at her though she were some kind of insect. Suddenly, they were equals. “Wherever she goes, I intend to send my own security team along.”

“Why?”

“Only to ensure she lives a long, happy life.” He smiled innocently. “She can get married, have children…grandchildren…”

Caroline had that uneasy feeling again. But she’d actually won something, and maybe she didn’t need to press her luck. “That’s…generous.”

“You seem surprised.” He said, “You didn’t think I was completely heartless, did you?” There was that dazzling smile again, but she wasn’t about to let him pat himself on the back for doing the bare minimum to be a half-decent person.

Whatever small amount of respect she might have had for him disappeared yet again. “You’re going to have to do a lot more than release a hostage in order to convince me you might have a heart in there.”

He dropped the smile. “This whole arrangement might go a bit more smoothly if you were a little more cooperative.”

“It’d go more smoothly if you weren’t a power-hungry psychopath.”

She was certain her mouth was going to get her killed some day. And if looks alone could kill, she’d certainly be dead right now. The glass of wine in Klaus’s hand shattered in his grip. The shards cut into his hand but he didn’t seem to notice. “I think dinner will need to be cut short tonight.” He growled. “I have other business to attend to.”

He stalked away from the table, slamming the door to the dining room behind him. Caroline got the sinking feeling that this wasn’t quite over.


	11. Chapter 11

Caroline didn’t see Klaus for the majority of the next day, and his absence was nearly as unnerving as his presence. She realized she definitely preferred having him where she could see him. And as it turned out, she was not permitted to leave the compound until after the wedding now. It was hard enough sending constant texts to her mother assuring her that this was exactly what she wanted and there was no need to worry.

 “Have you seen your evil overlord at all today?” she asked Stefan, since he was generally assigned to pretend-not-to-be-following-her-around.

“Miss him already?”

“Oh, _so_ much.” Caroline said dramatically. “Seriously. I need to speak to him.”

“He’ll see you at dinner.”

“Oh, that’s still a thing? I assumed since last night was such a disaster he’d want to avoid any activities where I might have access to anything sharp.”

“He intends to make every effort to create a peaceful union.”

That sounded way too rehearsed.

“Ste-Stefan?” a voice behind her whispered. She saw Elena standing several feet away, eyes locked on the vampire. He looked at her, and his face hardened.

“I have a lot to do.” He muttered. “You can find your own way back to your room, right?”

He didn’t wait for her to answer. He was gone in a blink.

Elena looked crestfallen. Caroline suddenly wished for vampiric speed as well because this was the last situation she wanted to be involved in.

“I keep thinking it’s all an act…that he’s just pretending to be on Klaus’s side now. But…”

“You mean he hasn’t always walked around like he has a stick up his ass?”

Elena looked mildly alarmed, and then stifled a laugh. But then she became serious again. “He was better than this. If we ever get out of this, I don’t know if he’ll still be the same person.”

Caroline was pretty sure you had to lose some part of yourself to survive Klaus Mikaelson. Maybe you don’t ever get that back.

“He loved you though, right?”

“I think so.”

“Anybody capable of love, is capable of being saved.” Caroline smiled encouragingly. She wondered if Klaus was capable of love. Perhaps he loved his siblings. That counted for something.

She decided she liked the doppelganger, and Hayley and Davina were both being weird around her since the engagement, so they spent more of the day together. This girl had willingly sacrificed her life to save her friends back home. She seemed to understand Caroline’s determination to use her current position save New Orleans. Even if it meant fraternizing with the enemy a little too closely.

Later that evening, she was required to dine with Klaus yet again. There was already wedding planning as well, and she took full advantage of her newfound power to ensure it would be exactly what she wanted.

Even if she did happen to be marrying the beast instead of prince charming, she’d had her dream wedding planned since she was five. No one else was getting a say in any of it.

She walked into the dining room, and then immediately gasped in horror and fell back against the door. There, in the center of the room, was her ex-boyfriend. Tyler was bound, and gagged and covered in blood. Klaus stood beside him, smiling.

“Wh-what…let him go!” she shrieked. She moved forward but Klaus was between them in an instant.

“Of course, love. He’s only here for a quick demonstration of what can go wrong when you get on my bad side.” The menacing gleam in his eye was back, and Caroline decided that maybe this was one person who was not capable of being saved after all.

“You’ve made your point.” Caroline said, her voice wavering as she tried to remain calm. “Let him go.”

“Miss Forbes, I am willing to put up with quite a lot. I can make deals with you, I can listen to you complain even though I go to great lengths to ensure you have every comfort your heart could desire.” Caroline started to speak, but at the look on his face, she thought better of it. Klaus continued, “But I grow weary of your blatant disrespect. I allow _no one_ to speak to me in the manner that you have. I am king here.”

He walked around to Tyler, who fought to free himself of the bonds. “It could be anyone in this chair. Your friends, your mother, anyone you care about. Don’t think that just because I choose to give in to a few of your demands, that you can start disrespecting me in my own home. You have no power over me.”

He untied Tyler, who stumbled out of the chair. Caroline finally rushed over to help him stand.

“Leave.” Klaus said to Tyler. “If anyone asks, you picked a fight with the wrong wolf, and you lost. Speak of this to no one.”

Tyler looked at Caroline one last time, like he wanted to say something, but thought better of it. He got out of that room as quickly as he could.

 _You have no power over me._ Caroline thought about his words, and his expression and tone of voice as he said them. There was something like fear on his face. He said the words as though it was a mantra. As though if he said it out loud, it would be true.

“What are you afraid of?” she asked, scrutinizing him. She didn’t understand how her words last night could have elicited this response. What did it matter what she thought? What did it matter if she voiced it? Surely it wasn’t the first time someone had called him out. Surely, he’d been called far worse things in his long life. His face contorted in rage yet again, but he settled for a glare.

“Go back to your room. Your dinner will be brought to you shortly. As you can see, I have a mess to clean up now.”


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have the hardest time writing Hayley as a character who's not Hope's mother and I've been avoiding it. So this chapter is partly filler/partly my attempt to get more comfortable writing from Hayley's POV.

Hayley walked down the narrow staircase into the basement level of the house. She hated this whole idea, but the full moon was tonight and they needed a place for her to transform safely. That’s why she was walking down into a dungeon with the creeping fear that she may never come out again. Elijah followed closely behind.

“We have a couple of vampires down here, so the scent of them might trigger your wolf, but I’m afraid there’s not that can be done.”

One of the vampires was probably Marcel. She passed a barred door and tried to look in, but Elijah moved her along. “I wouldn’t get to curious, if I were you.” He warned. “It’s not worth bringing my brother’s wrath down on you.”

They walked further down a narrow hall to an empty cell. Hayley hesitated before stepping inside.

“How do I know you’re not just going to leave me down here?”

“I believe your friend would raise hell if that were to happen.” Elijah assured her, and then he paused and added, “And I could never justify doing such a thing.”

She remained somewhat unconvinced. “Klaus could though.”

“I promise you I will be here to let you out the moment full moon is over.”

She stepped into the dark cell and a cold sense of dread built up as the door was shut and locked behind her. It would only be a matter of time now until she started to transform, but the claustrophobia of being trapped in the cell was already weighing down on her.

“Elijah?” she called tentatively. She hadn’t heard him leave, but that didn’t mean much for a vampire.

“I’m still here.” He replied from the other side.

“Could you…stay until it starts?” She felt embarrassed. But she didn’t want to be down here in this place alone. At least an Original vampire was better than no company at all.

“Of course.” He said without hesitation.

They didn’t actually talk much. She was still fairly certain he was untrustworthy, but she told him a little bit about her life, and he talked a bit about his childhood. He seemed to avoid the subject of his parents though. Hayley was fine with that. She’d not had great luck in that department either.

One of her ankles cracked loudly. “It’s starting.” She said, wincing. “Thanks for staying.”

“Do you need me to-”

“No.” she said through clenched teeth as two more bones snapped. “This isn’t exactly fun to witness.”

“It wouldn’t be the first time.”

“Seriously, you can go. I do this every month.” Just normally outside in the wilderness, and not locked up like a prisoner. Reluctantly, Elijah left, and Hayley was alone to succumb to the wolf as her body rapidly went through the final stages of transformation. At least she had been doing this for a few years now. The pain never fully went away but it got easier every time.

The next morning, she was jolted awake by the sound of a lock clicking open and the door. She was up in a flash, and then immediately remembered shed was completely naked. Before she could even have the presence of mind to be embarrassed, Elijah had draped his jacked over her shoulders within a fraction of a second. She gratefully wrapped it around herself.

He coughed nervously. “Sorry. I probably should have knocked.”

“It’s fine.” She said.

Just the absence of that one piece of his outfit made him look slightly odd, but not really in a bad way. Still, she almost felt the need to avert her eyes. Elijah in just a dress shirt and pants seemed…weirdly scandalous.

“I’ll, um, leave you to get dressed for a moment.” He said. She almost laughed. She had never seen him look quite so out-of-sorts. Surely it hadn’t been long since he’d seen a naked woman.

_I mean, look at him._ She forced that thought out of her brain right away. Nope. Not going there.

At least he was considerably more tolerable than his brothers.

She got dressed in the folded clothes that had been left there the night before, and stepped out into the hallway. She handed Elijah’s jacket back to him.

“See? I made good on my promise.” He reminded her. She kind of felt guilty for doubting him. Of everyone here, he’d shown the most kindness…and something close to friendship.

“You did.”

“But you don’t trust me.” He said knowingly. “I do hope to change that.”

She didn’t really understand it. He had no reason to be nice to her. Maybe he was just acting on orders to keep her from causing any trouble.

She decided she’d need to come clean to Caroline and Davina about this stupid crush. Maybe they would snap her out of it and get her to see sense.


	13. Chapter 13

Her wedding was a month away. Caroline had hardly believed they could have an entire wedding planned in such a short amount of time, but Klaus Mikaelson controlled the entire city now. Anything they needed, at any time, was made available.

She looked at herself in yet another wedding dress. “I don’t know how I feel about the A-line dresses.”

“You’ve said that about every dress shape so far.” The woman at the shop muttered. It was true though. Maybe the fact that she was marrying a murderous psychopath was putting a damper on the whole “say yes to the dress” experience she’d envisioned for herself.

“I still think ballgown is the way to go.” Davina said.

“I should just pick one and then drench it in blood.” Caroline said, “Since that’s exactly what this city is going to look like soon enough.”

“Oh, but you already choose royal blue and gold as your colors.” Hayley said with a fake pout. Caroline took the veil off her head and threw it.

“Ugh. Just bring me a few of the ballgown silhouettes I guess.” Caroline sighed. “And another glass of champagne.”

She didn’t feel too bad for being rude. The woman running the shop was a witch who’d sided with Klaus. The lady narrowed her eyes and then briskly walked away to fulfill Caroline’s requests. Really, Caroline kind of wanted to see how much the fiancé of Klaus Mikaelson could get away with. Turns out, the limit was pretty high.

“I wish we could have brought the doppelganger.”

“She has a name.”

“Fine, I wish we could have brought _Elena._ You two have been no help.” It was true that no one was super excited about this, like they should have been in another life.

“You think she’d be happy to plan your weird fake wedding?”

“Oh, it’s very much real. Real priest and everything.” Caroline grimaced, “But I’m she’d be thrilled to leave the compound for a few hours.” Maybe Caroline could pull some strings. It wasn’t fair that the other girl was stuck there with all those vampires and hybrids.

The sales woman came back, and dumped three new dresses unceremoniously on a chair and handed Caroline her glass of champagne. “Thanks, and my friends are going to need fresh drinks too.” Caroline smiled sweetly. The woman looked as though that might have nearly sent her over the edge.

“You’re going to get yourself hexed.” Davina whispered in a fit of giggles.

“Good. Maybe she can put a hex on me to make me look like an ogre or something to keep Klaus away.”

Maybe she was just being difficult, or maybe she just couldn’t quite come to terms with it, but she didn’t manage to choose a dress that day. Klaus would simply have to let her and her friends go back next week.

Speaking of Klaus, she’d barely seen him since the incident with Tyler. Every time they ended up in the same room, he was gone in a flash. She liked to think he was ashamed, but he was probably just sick of her and realizing what a horrible idea this had all been. Maybe he’d choose someone better suited for this job.

* * *

 

Nothing was going according to plan.

Well, it was, but it didn’t _feel_ like it was. Everything was wrong. He wasn’t supposed to care what this girl actually thought of him. He wasn’t supposed to let her get under his skin, but he did.

Kidnapping and torturing her ex-boyfriend was probably an error in judgment. He’d not gotten close enough to her again to know if it had actually been beneficial or not. But every time they briefly shared a space, she looked at him with pure disgust.

And he hated it.

And he hated that he hated it.

“You tortured her former lover. I’m not exactly sure what you were expecting.” Elijah said, as Klaus vented his frustrations over breakfast. Rebekah sat the table as well, but she’d not said a word yet. _Probably still deciding which buttons to push today._

“I wouldn’t have had to do it if she would simply comply!” Klaus raged.

“Have you attempted showing the tiniest bit of kindness?” Rebekah said finally. Klaus sighed and cast her a withering look.

“She has wanted for nothing since we’ve met.”

“Except, maybe, an actual fiancé who cares about her and her feelings?”

“She knows as well as I do that this is purely political!”

“And isn’t that just so romantic.” Rebekah said sarcastically. “You could at least _try_ to make it bearable. Just once, could you not be an ass?”

This conversation was pointless. Why did he ever bother with these two? “How do you propose I do that? Especially now?”

“Apologize.” Elijah said with a slight shrug. “In person. Act like you mean it.”

“I’ll send flowers.”

“ _No.”_ Rebekah and Elijah said at the same time.

“I should have left all of you daggered.” Klaus growled.

* * *

 

When there was a knock at Caroline’s door that evening, she braced herself for some hybrid to bark orders at her or for some stupid itinerary for the next day. She was always kept busy, probably to keep her from plotting against her husband-to-be.

She opened the door and nearly thought to slam it shut again when she saw Klaus standing there.

The memory of Tyler, tied up and covered in blood, was fresh in her mind. She took a breath. “What?” she asked, attempting to be the absolute definition of calm.

“Could I…have a word with you?” Klaus asked. He seemed nervous, which was a new development. He was never nervous about anything.

_Do I really have a choice in the matter?_ She thought bitterly. But she opened the door all the way and stepped back to allow him to come in.

“I like what you’ve done with the place.”

“Thanks, I was going for a springtime in paris vibe.”

“It’s very…you.” Klaus said, taking in the décor. Caroline ignored the compliment. Because it was definitely her, but how would he know?

“What do you want?”

“I’ve been under a lot of stress these past few weeks.” He started off, looking more uncomfortable by the second. It was an odd thing to see. “I took it out on you.”

“Are you…are you apologizing?”

He sat down on the edge of the bed, and avoided her eyes. “You don’t have to act so shocked. I’m not completely made of stone.” He muttered.

“What’s the motive? What do you want from me now?” Caroline asked suspiciously.

“Nothing.” He said quickly. “Listen, Miss Forbes, I took this city by force. Because it’s mine. It belongs to me. And that traitor, Marcellus, does not deserve it. But I don’t want to ruin New Orleans. I want the supernatural communities to thrive, but I want the humans to work with us as well.”

He stood up, and was in front of her in the blink of an eye.

“I need your help to do that.” He said earnestly. “This simply cannot be done without someone like you. And…it’ll be much easier if we aren’t constantly at war with each other.”

He was close now. Really, really close. She could feel her heartbeat pick up, and despised it for it’s betrayal. Surely he could hear it. She wasn’t sure if it was driven by fear or excitement. She searched his eyes, and she didn’t see a monster staring back at her. Just a man, a really ambitious and power-hungry man, but still only a man.

“I’ll never be able to trust you.” She said quietly, “But I can be civil, at least.”

“Oh, there’d be no fun at all if we trusted each other, Miss Forbes.” He said with a devilish grin. It was that grin that sent chills through her—not necessarily bad ones.

He kissed her forehead. “Have a lovely evening.” He murmured, and his lips brushing against her skin made her feel like electricity was suddenly coursing through her. And then he was gone. And she was more confused than ever.


	14. Chapter 14

Kol threw a particularly old-looking vase against the wall of the tomb, and just briefly, his vampire features appeared.

“We’ve tried everything we can.” Davina said, unsure of what to do. “Can you maybe calm down? There’s got to be another way-”

“There IS NO OTHER WAY.” He roared, suddenly centimeters away from her, holding her in a deadly-strong grip. She watched his fangs begin to protrude and she quickly used her power to incapacitate him with a crippling aneurysm to his brain.

He released her, screaming in pain. “You need me. This isn’t over.” She reminded him, “Don’t do something you’ll regret later.”

“The wedding is hours away.”

“I know, I still need to get ready, I’m a bridesmaid. And you’re a groomsman, if you’ve forgotten. Which is ironic, considering what we’re trying to do…”

“We’re out of time.”

“No we’re _not._ The wedding may strengthen his hold on the city but plenty of people would be happy to see him gone. They’d want Marcel-”

“I don’t give a damn about that whelp.” Kol muttered. Davina bit back her anger.

“I owe it to him to find him, Kol.”

“Whatever you do after we shove a dagger in my brother’s heart and drop him in the ocean is your business. But once he starts forming alliances, I’m telling you, you’ll want to flee this city if we do succeed in getting rid of him.”

“That’s fine. I’d always planned on leaving. But I want to make sure Marcel is in power first.” she constantly reiterated this to him. She grew quiet for a moment. “What will you do, Kol? Will your siblings come after you?”

His expression hardened. She’d ventured into dangerous territory again. “Most likely. I was never the most valuable sibling in their eyes. Even Finn shows restraint, though he detests what we are. Elijah is the wisest, Nik is the strongest, Rebekah is the youngest and has always been given chance after chance. Me? They stick a dagger in me the moment I become inconvenient. The moment I step out of line.”

“So you’re leaving too.”

“The moment I can.” He grimaced. “I’ll never let them near me with those daggers again. You could join me. We could be fugitives together, you know. The bloodthirsty lunatic you all know and hate has certain charms.” He flashed a grin. And of course she thought there was no chance in hell she’d consider it, but she played along.

“I could play Bonnie and Clyde, I suppose.”  She flashed a grin, but then felt it was necessary to remind him, “I won’t have my power away from the city. I wouldn’t be very useful to keep around.”

“I think you vastly underestimate the value of just being a normal human.” Kol said. His tone was light but there was something more serious underneath. “I envy you. I haven’t been human in a thousand years. I’m not sure what it would feel like anymore.”

Davina started to respond, but then remembered this was all just pretend. Once they accomplished their mission, they would go their separate ways. She’d heard the horror stories of Kol Mikaelson while growing up. She knew what this vampire was capable of. He was an ally for now, but ultimately there was no way she could trust him. “Come on. We have a wedding to get ready for.”

* * *

 

Klaus had pretty much given Caroline free reign over the wedding planning so everything was exactly as she had always dreamed it would be—except for the groom, but it was a minor detail she chose to overlook today.

“I have to admit, I feel like a princess.” She said, twirling once more in her wedding dress.

“And you’re about to be queen.” Hayley reminded her.

“Stop saying that. Everyone needs to stop saying that. We still live in America, last I checked. I don’t think the US government recognizes Klaus’s delusions of monarchy here.”

“Give it a few months.” Hayley muttered. “He’s probably got his sights set on world domination at some point.”

“And then why stop at earth?” Davina added. “You could be queen of the galaxy by the end of the year.”

“I want a vacation home on Mars.”

How did she get here? How did marrying the worst vampire in history suddenly seem less daunting? She’d never imagined she’d be able to joke about it.

“Don’t hold your breath.” Davina said cryptically. Hayley and Caroline both looked at her curiously.

“What do you mean?”

“This room is spelled, right? No eavesdropping?”

“It was in my list of demands.” Caroline said. This was actually the first time they’d all been in her bedroom. Most of their socializing had to take place in a space where they could be monitored. But Klaus had been a lot more relaxed in the past few days. He seemed to actually _want_ Caroline to be happy. She couldn’t imagine why, other than for political gain.

“I’m…working on something. With someone.” Davina said hesitantly. “I’ve not been taking all of those doses of lobelia extract. I’ve been trying to find this…diamond. I just can’t for the life of me get past whatever cloaking spell it’s under.”

“What does it look like?”

“Enormous.”

“And…what do you intend to do with this diamond?”

Davina dropped her voice to barely a whisper, just in case. “There may be a way to neutralize Klaus. But I need the power from the diamond to make the weapon required.”

Caroline had expected to feel relieved, or happy, or something. Instead, she was just nervous. She wanted to believe she was only worried for her friend’s safety but that wasn’t quite it.

No. There was no way she could be worried for Klaus. Putting a stop to him had been the plan all along, right? But while she didn’t trust him, and he certainly didn’t trust her, there was at least some form of mutual respect between them. As much as she hated to admit it, they were fairly well matched. And the fact that Klaus was forever telling her how much _potential_ she had as a natural leader was kind of nice.

This was crazy. She was being crazy.

Caroline forced a grateful smile. “You and your ‘someone’ are a godsend, then. I’ll keep an eye out for a ridiculously huge diamond, if it helps.”

But would she be able to bring herself to obtain it for them, even if she did find it?


	15. Chapter 15

“Caroline, do you take Niklaus Mikaelson as your lawful husband, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and cherish until death do you part?”

_Most likely my death. Do vampires even get sick? Is there a vampire version of the common cold?_

Caroline cleared her throat, remembering the room full of eyes on her. Klaus had already done his part. Everything was done now. This was the final moment.

“I do.” She said, and then she flashed that beautiful smile that had won every pageant she’d ever entered.

“Then, by the power vested in me by the state of Louisiana, I now pronounce you man and wife. You may kiss the bride.”

It was quite the show, as Klaus pulled her in for a kiss, wrapping an arm around her waist. She gracefully pulled him closer and after an appropriate amount of time they broke apart amidst applause. Even Caroline’s own friends and family seemed pleased with the whole situation. They’d actually sold this.

The reception lasted late into the night. Honestly, Caroline and Klaus had barely spent time together during that portion. Caroline was too busy playing diplomat already, and talking to the heads of the human faction, under her mother’s watchful eye, reassuring them that she would be doing everything in her power to keep the balance in the city.

“Enough with the politics, it’s a party!” her new sister-in-law said, dragging her away from the others. Rebekah led her back towards the Mikaelsons and said under her breath, “Please do be careful about what promises you’re making on my brother’s behalf.”

“I’m trying to do what’s best for my city.”

“You’re in a room full of others with supernatural hearing. They think you can’t be trusted if you’re only willing to speak with the humans in the crowd. Especially if you’re only interested in human concerns.”

“Well, I’m-”

“For now.” Rebekah cut her off. Caroline stopped in her tracks.

“Excuse me?”

“Can’t have you getting old and dropping dead can we? Don’t worry, it’ll be a while before he turns you.”

She continued leading Caroline through the crowd while Caroline sputtered protests. As soon as her hand was laid in Klaus’s she glared up at him. He seemed to have heard the exchange though.

“Ignore her. Besides, it’s not respectful celebration talk, is it, love?” Klaus murmured, pulling her into a slow dance.

“I’m not doing it.”

“We’ll discuss it later.” He said with slightly more force. She purposefully stepped on his foot.

 _Maybe Davina’s right about that dagger idea after all._ She found herself thinking. She couldn’t become a vampire. She just couldn’t. That wasn’t part of the deal at all.

The subject wasn’t mentioned again, and they continued to dance and mingle until the guests filtered out. Eventually, Klaus and Caroline found themselves alone on the balcony. Her dress was becoming more than a little uncomfortable. And she was still somewhat tipsy from the ludicrous amounts of alcohol she’d had throughout the night but even that was beginning to wear off.

“I need sleep.” She sighed, “For at least a month.”

“Of course, I’ve already had some of your things moved.”

“Moved…where?”

He was barely able to hold back a smirk. “We’re married now, Caroline. What happened to playing the part? People will talk if we sleep in separate rooms.”

“First the vampire thing, and now this?” she asked incredulously. “You have some nerve…”

“It’s a large enough bed.” He said by way of making amends. “I know it’s not…ideal, but my intentions are honorable. You’ll scarcely notice I’m there.”

“You’d better not snore.”

“You can kick me off the bed if I do.”

 _Stop being cute._ She wanted to say. Instead she huffed and followed him inside and down the hall to his rooms. Klaus essentially had his own one bedroom apartment within the compound. She could hardly see a need for him to leave. He pointed out a bathroom for her to change in and went to change out of his suit. Her pajamas were already resting on the countertop by the sink. The comfortable ones, not the sexy ones. She sighed with relief. It was annoying that he seemed remember everything. By the time she changed and came out, he was already in the room, lying down on the side he’d claimed.

“You'd better not so much as even look at me without permission." she warned, as she climbed into bed under the blankets. He’d been right, the bed was huge. There was a sea of sheets between them. It would take some sort of effort to close the space between them.

He was still looking down at the book he was holding, and without bothering to look at her, he said softly, “You honestly think so low of me?”

She’d expected some cocky retort. That almost would have been preferable.

“No.” she admitted. “I suppose you must have some moral compass.”

He put the book down on the nightstand, and stretched. He was shirtless, and she had to look away as the muscles moved beneath his skin. Did he need to sleep shirtless? She snuck a peak again though.

“Seems I’m not the one with wandering eyes, anyway.” He murmured. She blushed madly, and flicked the bedside lamp off, not that it did any good against his vampiric eyesight. But at least she wouldn’t be tempted to look at him.

“I’m quite alright if you need to ignore that there might be something between us, dear Caroline. But don’t attempt to paint me as the villain in this situation. I’ve been nothing but gentlemanly.” His voice came in the darkness, still a decent distance away. She chance turning onto her side, in his direction.

“Why do you insist there’s something more?”

“Because I think no one has been able to match wits with you in a long time, if ever. Because I think as much as you want to hate me, the idea of being something more than just the girl from the human faction intrigues you. Because I’ve felt you kiss me and trust me, I know when a kiss is false.”

She hoped he wasn’t looking at her right now. “It doesn’t matter. I didn’t get a choice in this…”

“I wouldn’t have picked anyone who wasn’t at least half the woman you are, Caroline. It _had_ to be you. You’re what the city needs if we want to succeed.”

“If _you_ want to succeed.” But why did the idea of holding all that power feel so good?

“It’s okay to want things for yourself.”

Was he closer now? He sounded closer now. Why was her heart about to burst out of her chest? She was tempted to turn the light back on. The darkness seemed too inviting to her secret desires.

“But it’s not real when you kiss me.” She said, more for her own benefit. Even if she did find herself attracted to him, there was no way he felt that way about her. She was a means to an end.

“What makes you so sure?”

“I…I just know.” She stuttered. “You only kiss me for show.”

“What if I were to kiss you now?” he dared, and she felt the heat creeping up her cheeks once more, “Who would we be putting on a show for?”

He’d moved closer. No wait, she’d moved closer. Or maybe they had both closed that distance.

“I’d stop you.” She said, trying to sound surer of herself than she felt. “There’d be no need for it, with no audience.”

She could almost see his smile in the darkness. “So let’s try an experiment. One kiss, with your permission. And you can see how real it is, and if you want me to stop then I shall obey.” He offered. “I’ll sleep out on the couch, even.”

That seemed reasonable enough. And then she would have the bed to herself. So why was she hesitating?

A minute or so passed, and she breathed a small “yes.” 

Tentatively, he pulled her closer. This was not like those times in front of the crowds. He seemed to already be expecting her to stop him. She felt the heat of his breath as he moved closer and then he seemed to pause just millimeters away from her lips. Maybe he was giving her one more chance to change her mind. She waited, and then felt his lips brush against her so gently she almost thought she was imagining it.

When she still said nothing, she felt his lips more firmly against her own now, and she felt herself return the kiss and gently cup his cheek with her hand. There was no one to convince. There was no reason to let this go on. She should tell him to stop.

She really didn’t want to though. She kissed him back in earnest now, and his grip on her tightened almost desperately. She was aware that with his supernatural strength he could probably crush her, but he seemed to know the limit. “Caroline.” He moaned softly against her mouth. He broke away first, breathless, “If your plan is to bring me to the point of torture before you call this off, consider it a success, love.”

“I…I never said to stop.” She whispered. He didn’t need to be encouraged further. In an instant, his lips crashed against hers. She ran her hands down his muscled chest, and he shift them so that he was on top of her now. And some point her pajamas came off, and they were both stripped down to their underwear.

At some point while kissing a trail down her neck, he whispered, “Have I made my point yet?”

“Not just yet.” She said, feeling bold. There was no turning back now. She felt him smile against her skin as he continued to work his way down. Whatever limits they’d set for themselves went right out the window as the night drew on.


	16. Chapter 16

Caroline had kept up her end of the deal with Klaus, and now Davina and Hayley were free to leave the compound.

“I thought you guys would already have your bags packed?” Caroline said, looking at them expectantly. Davina and Hayley exchanged slightly guilty glances.

“I like not paying rent.” Hayley admitted.

“And I’m pretty happy to be away from the coven.” Davina said, “So long as we can still be free to come and go as we please…we were wondering if we could stay?”

“If Mrs. Klaus Mikaelson allows it.”

“I’ll have to think about it.” Caroline said, she pretended to be in deep contemplation for a moment. “You’ll have to do dishes or something.”

“How about I just keep working on my secret dagger project.” Davina said with a wink. Caroline faltered, and then let out a nervous laugh.

“Right, that. How-how’s that coming, by the way?”

“I know where the diamond is.” Davina said proudly. “My friend just has to get it.”

“Awesome.”

Caroline forced a tight smile. This was moving a lot more rapidly than she had anticipated. _And you just had sex with him last night. Great job. Which side are you on?_

* * *

 

Davina waited impatiently outside the tomb. She’d located the diamond in one of the many hiding places of the compound. It was simply Kol’s job to retrieve it. And since it was located in Klaus’s chambers, she was understandably anxious. If he got caught, he could give her away too…and what if they decided that her friends were involved?

They could all be killed.

She heard movement to her left, and turned, ready to defend herself but there was only empty air.

A rush of wind went behind her and she turned once more, still finding nothing. She pressed her back against the tomb, so that at least nothing could sneak up on her.

“Who’s there?” she called. Meeting at night felt like a mistake now. There were too many shadowy corners in the cemetery. She could swear she saw them move if she stared long enough.

“Never gets old.” A voice said beside her. She shoved Kol in the chest.

“Stop doing that!” she snapped. He grinned.

“Stop falling for it, and maybe I might.” He retorted. He held out a hand, waiting for her wrist. She supposed she could have removed the spell on the tomb requiring her blood, but she liked having this little bit of control over things.

She offered up her wrist and he sank his teeth into it, and let the blood drip on the door. And, as usual, he opened up his own wrist to heal her with his blood.

It was all super weirdly intimate and she tried not to think too much on all the blood-sharing.

Davina pushed the door open and immediately went to work getting the dagger and everything in order. It was going to be a long process, and would probably take a lot of power. she hoped she would actually have the energy to get it done, even with the diamond. It was times like this she wished she had some other witches to channel. But there was no chance Kol would agree to having more people involved in this. And it wasn't as if she knew anyone she could ask anyway.

“The diamond?” she asked.

Kol reached into his pocket and produced the gem. Davina couldn’t help but gasp. “That’s one hell of a rock.”

“If you pull this off, I’ll have it made into something pretty for you.”

He was always flirting. She brushed the comment off and set to work.

“How long is this supposed to take?” he asked.

“I’m literally going to be turning silver to gold, could you keep quiet for more than a minute?” she said. “Do you have the white ash?”

“It’s safe and sound at home. We don’t need it until the dagger’s been changed.”

“You just don’t want to risk me using it on you.”

“You know me all too well, darling.”

She was nearly ready to begin the process. Davina looked up at him. “Are you sure about this? He’s your brother, after all. What if you change your mind?” In other words, what would Kol do to _her_ if he changed his mind?

“He’s a tyrant.” Kol said dismissively. “Like I said, it won’t really kill him. It just gives him a taste of his own medicine. I’ll need your help cloaking the body as well. Can’t have my siblings getting sympathetic.”

“Caroline was being weird today.”

“Well, last night was her wedding night. I’m sure she was quite tired.”

Davina made a disgusted face at the implication. “She would never.”

“Now that you mention it, my hybrid brother was in a better than usual mood this morning.”

“Caroline wouldn’t _sleep with Klaus._ ”

“You’d better hope not. If she interferes…” he warned.

“She won’t.” Davina said firmly. “She’s smarter than that. She wants him gone just as much as we do. She was happy when I told her-”

“You _told her_?” Kol slammed his hand on the table.

“And…Hayley.” Davina admitted nervously. “But they’re on our side! They wouldn’t do anything to expose us. And I didn’t mention your name at all.”

Kol ran his hand through his hair and paced the length of the small room. “Oh, this is dangerous.”

“No one’s going to know.”

“I need you to tell me exactly what you told them.” He demanded. “If they reveal the details to anyone, it’ll get back to Nik. I can’t have him finding out. Or Elijah. Or even Rebekah. They’ll know it’s me. They know I’ve tried this before, Davina. I’d have a dagger in my chest. And you? They’d likely just kill you and be done with it. Because of me.”

“No one will find out.” Davina reassured him. “Are you…like, actually worried about me?”

“Well, if you’re not going to worry about you, someone should.” Kol muttered awkwardly. “I can’t believe you would be so stupid. And that wolf girl has been spending so much time with Elijah…”

“Elijah doesn’t seem so bad.”

“Elijah would pick Niklaus over me any day. So would Rebekah.” Kol said grimly. “Hilariously, the only person they hate more than me is Finn, and he’d be happy to see us all burn.”

“Okay fine. No more sharing secrets with others. Pinkie promise.” Davina held her pinkie out towards him. He hooked his pinkie around hers.

“I’m counting on you. Now let’s get this started.” He said.

Davina turned back to the objects lying on the table before her and began to recite the spell.


End file.
